EP4279080A2 - Traitement et prophylaxie d'une infection k. pneumoniae - Google Patents

Traitement et prophylaxie d'une infection k. pneumoniae Download PDF

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EP4279080A2
EP4279080A2 EP23180940.1A EP23180940A EP4279080A2 EP 4279080 A2 EP4279080 A2 EP 4279080A2 EP 23180940 A EP23180940 A EP 23180940A EP 4279080 A2 EP4279080 A2 EP 4279080A2
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exactly
amino acid
seq
antibody
acid residues
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EP4279080A3 (fr
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Niels Iversen MØLLER
Andreas Holm MATTSSON
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Evaxion Biotech AS
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Evaxion Biotech AS
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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K39/00—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies
    • A61K39/02—Bacterial antigens
    • A61K39/025—Enterobacteriales, e.g. Enterobacter
    • A61K39/0266—Klebsiella
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K38/00—Medicinal preparations containing peptides
    • A61K38/03—Peptides having up to 20 amino acids in an undefined or only partially defined sequence; Derivatives thereof
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K38/00—Medicinal preparations containing peptides
    • A61K38/16—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
    • A61K38/164—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from bacteria
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K14/00—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
    • C07K14/195—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from bacteria
    • C07K14/24—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from bacteria from Enterobacteriaceae (F), e.g. Citrobacter, Serratia, Proteus, Providencia, Morganella, Yersinia
    • C07K14/26—Klebsiella (G)
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K16/00—Immunoglobulins [IGs], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies
    • C07K16/12—Immunoglobulins [IGs], e.g. monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies against material from bacteria
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
    • C12N15/00—Mutation or genetic engineering; DNA or RNA concerning genetic engineering, vectors, e.g. plasmids, or their isolation, preparation or purification; Use of hosts therefor
    • C12N15/09—Recombinant DNA-technology
    • C12N15/63—Introduction of foreign genetic material using vectors; Vectors; Use of hosts therefor; Regulation of expression
    • C12N15/79—Vectors or expression systems specially adapted for eukaryotic hosts
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/48—Biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Haemocytometers
    • G01N33/50—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing
    • G01N33/53—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor
    • G01N33/569—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor for microorganisms, e.g. protozoa, bacteria, viruses
    • G01N33/56911—Bacteria
    • G01N33/56916—Enterobacteria, e.g. shigella, salmonella, klebsiella, serratia
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K2317/00—Immunoglobulins specific features
    • C07K2317/20—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by taxonomic origin
    • C07K2317/24—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by taxonomic origin containing regions, domains or residues from different species, e.g. chimeric, humanized or veneered
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K2317/00—Immunoglobulins specific features
    • C07K2317/50—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by immunoglobulin fragments
    • C07K2317/54—F(ab')2
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K2317/00—Immunoglobulins specific features
    • C07K2317/50—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by immunoglobulin fragments
    • C07K2317/55—Fab or Fab'
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K2317/00—Immunoglobulins specific features
    • C07K2317/60—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by non-natural combinations of immunoglobulin fragments
    • C07K2317/62—Immunoglobulins specific features characterized by non-natural combinations of immunoglobulin fragments comprising only variable region components
    • C07K2317/622—Single chain antibody (scFv)
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
    • C12N15/00—Mutation or genetic engineering; DNA or RNA concerning genetic engineering, vectors, e.g. plasmids, or their isolation, preparation or purification; Use of hosts therefor
    • C12N15/09—Recombinant DNA-technology
    • C12N15/63—Introduction of foreign genetic material using vectors; Vectors; Use of hosts therefor; Regulation of expression
    • C12N15/70—Vectors or expression systems specially adapted for E. coli
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
    • C12N15/00—Mutation or genetic engineering; DNA or RNA concerning genetic engineering, vectors, e.g. plasmids, or their isolation, preparation or purification; Use of hosts therefor
    • C12N15/09—Recombinant DNA-technology
    • C12N15/63—Introduction of foreign genetic material using vectors; Vectors; Use of hosts therefor; Regulation of expression
    • C12N15/74—Vectors or expression systems specially adapted for prokaryotic hosts other than E. coli, e.g. Lactobacillus, Micromonospora
    • C12N15/75—Vectors or expression systems specially adapted for prokaryotic hosts other than E. coli, e.g. Lactobacillus, Micromonospora for Bacillus
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N2333/00—Assays involving biological materials from specific organisms or of a specific nature
    • G01N2333/195—Assays involving biological materials from specific organisms or of a specific nature from bacteria
    • G01N2333/24—Assays involving biological materials from specific organisms or of a specific nature from bacteria from Enterobacteriaceae (F), e.g. Citrobacter, Serratia, Proteus, Providencia, Morganella, Yersinia
    • G01N2333/26—Klebsiella (G)
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N2469/00—Immunoassays for the detection of microorganisms
    • G01N2469/20—Detection of antibodies in sample from host which are directed against antigens from microorganisms

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the field of antimicrobial prophylaxis and therapy.
  • the present invention relates to novel proteins and polynucleotides derived from Klebsiella pneumoniae.
  • the invention further relates to vectors comprising the polynucleotides, transformed host organisms expressing the polynucleotides, antibodies (mono- or polyclonal) specific for the polypeptides as well as diagnostic, prophylactic and therapeutic uses and methods. Finally, also methods of preparation are part of the invention.
  • Bacterial infections are in most instances successfully treated by administration of antibiotics to patients in need thereof. However, due to careless or thoughtless use of powerful antibiotics, many pathological germs become resistant against antibiotics over time. One threatening example is Klebsiella pneumoniae.
  • the genus Klebsiella belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae and is divided into at least 4 species. They are gram-negative, capsulated, oxidase-negative, non-motile, straight rods. They are facultative anaerobes, having both a respiratory and fermnentative metabolism. Most strains can use citrate and glucose as their sole carbon source. Some strains can fix nitrogen. They are commonly found in the intestines, clinical samples, soil, water and grains.
  • the species Klebsiella pneumoniae can be divided into 3 subspecies;pneumoniae, ozaenae and rhinoscleromatis ( Orskov, I. 1984. Genus V. Klebsiella Trevisan 1885, 105.
  • Klebsiella pneumoniae is the most common gram-negative pathogen causing community acquired pneumonia ( Carpenter, J., et al, 1990. Rev Infect. Dis. 12:672-682 ). Klebsiella is also responsible for an estimated 8% of all nosocomial infections ( Sahly, H. and Podschun, R., 1997. Clin. Diagn. Lab. Immunol. 4:393-399 ).
  • K. pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen that is associated with pneumonia, septicemia, meningitis, endocarditis, ventriculitis, and infections of urinary tract and wounds. These diseases are both nosocomial and community acquired. K. pneumoniae also plays a large role in two major nonrheumatoid arthritic diseases, Ankylosing Spondylitis and Reiter's Syndrome ( Wegbeck, P. and Oldstone, M., 1989. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. 145:45-56 .). Despite available antibiotics, observed mortality rates for pneumonia are approximately 50%, but when bacteremic K. pneumoniae occurs in alcoholics, the mortality rises to almost 100% ( Sahly, H.
  • K. pneumoniae meningitis Incidence of K. pneumoniae meningitis is on the rise. A study of 3377 cases of Bacterial meningitis in 1948, found only 7 were K. pneumoniae. In 1957, K. pneumonia accounted for 1.5% of all cases of meningitis. In an eleven-year study, from 1981 to 1991, 13% of culture proven bacterial meningitis cases were K. pneumoniae. There was an increase occurrence of K. pneumoniae meningitis within this study with 7% occurrence in the first 6 years, and 16% occurrence in the last 5 years ( Tang, L-M and Chen, S-T., 1994. Scand. J. Infect. Dis. 26:95-102 ).
  • Klebsiella strains have become multi-resistant to many antibiotics. In the 1970's, the resistance was mainly to aminoglycoside antibiotics. Since 1982, some Klebsiella strains have become resistant to the extended-spectrum cephalosporins ( Sahly, H. and Podschun, R., 1997. Clin. Diagn. Lab. Immunol. 4:393-399 ). Resistance to the extended-spectrum cephalosporins among clinical isolates of Klebsiella in France and England has been reported at 14 to 16% ( Sirot, D. 1995 J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 36:19-34 ).
  • Klebsiella Since Klebsiella is a good recipient for R factors, resistance has been gained to ⁇ -lactams, tetracycline, chloramphenicols, ceftazidime, sulfonamides and trimethoprim. Today, almost all strains of Klebsiella are resistant to ampicillin. ( Orskov, I. 1984. Genus V. Klebsiella Trevisan 1885, 105. Krieg and Holt (editors) In Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 1:461-465 ).
  • K. pneumoniae has been used to convert simple sugars to the commodity chemicals 1,3-propanediol and 1,2-propanediol. These products have been made by fed-batch fermentation of glycerol by K. pneumoniae. ( Cameron, D. et al, 1998. Biotechnol. Prog. 14:116-125 ). Genes from the 1,3-propanediol pathway of K. pneumoniae have recently been cloned and expressed into both E. coli and S . cerevisiae. Metabolic engineering of these genes can significantly improve the product yield and productivity ( Cameron, D. et al, 1998. Biotechnol. Prog. 14:116-125 ).
  • Klebsiella genus With K. pneumoniae playing the lead role, the Klebsiella genus is becoming an increasingly important pathogen. Over the past 10 years, discovery of multi-drug resistant strains has emphasized the importance of this genus. Furthermore, Klebsiella is considered to be a model for systemic infections caused by capsulated bacteria.
  • Vaccination is considered to be a very effective method of preventing infectious diseases in human and veterinary health care.
  • Vaccination is the administration of immieuxically effective amounts of antigenic material (the vaccine) to produce immunity to a disease/disease-causing pathogenic agent.
  • Vaccines have contributed to the eradication of smallpox, the near eradication of polio, and the control of a variety of diseases, including rubella, measles, mumps, chickenpox, typhoid fever.
  • vaccines were based on killed or live attenuated, microorganisms, or parts purified from them.
  • Subunit vaccines are considered as a modern upgrade of these types of vaccine, as the subunit vaccines contain one or more protective antigens, which are more or less the weak spot of the pathogen.
  • protective antigens which are more or less the weak spot of the pathogen.
  • An antigen is said to be protective if it is able to induce protection from subsequent challenge by a disease-causing infectious agent in an appropriate animal model following immunization.
  • the empirical approach to subunit vaccine development begins with pathogen cultivation, followed by purification into components, and then testing of antigens for protection. Apart from being time and labour consuming, this approach has several limitations that can lead to failure. It is not possible to develop vaccines using this approach for microorganisms, which cannot easily be cultured and only allows for the identification of the antigens, which can be obtained in sufficient quantities.
  • the empirical approach has a tendency to focus on the most abundant proteins, which in some cases are not immuno-protective. In other cases, the antigen expressed during in vivo infection is not expressed during in vitro cultivation.
  • antigen discovery by use of the empirical approach demands an extreme amount of proteins in order to discover the protective antigens, which are like finding needles in the haystack. This renders it a very expensive approach, and it limits the vaccine development around diseases, which is caused by pathogens with a large genome or disease areas, which perform badly in a cost-effective perspective.
  • K. pneumoniae derived antigenic polypeptides that may serve as constituents in vaccines against K. pneumoniae infections and in diagnosis of K. pneumoniae infections. It is also an object to provide nucleic acids, vectors, transformed cells, vaccine compositions, and other useful means for molecular cloning as well as for therapy and diagnosis with relevance for K. pneumoniae.
  • K. pneumoniae in particular drug resistant K. pneumoniae, expresses a number of hitherto unknown putatively surface exposed proteins which are candidates as vaccine targets as well as candidates as immunizing agents for preparation of antibodies that target K. pneumoniae.
  • the present invention relates to a polypeptide comprising
  • the invention relates to an isolated nucleic acid fragment, which comprises
  • the invention relates to a vector comprising the nucleic acid of the invention, such as a cloning vector or an expression vector.
  • the invention relates to a cell which is transformed so as to carry the vector of the invention.
  • the invention in a fifth aspect, relates to a pharmaceutical composition
  • a pharmaceutical composition comprising a polypeptide of the invention, a nucleic acid fragment of the invention, a vector of the invention, or a transformed cell of the invention, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, vehicle or diluent.
  • the invention in a sixth aspect, relates to a method for inducing immunity in an animal by administering at least once an immunogenically effective amount of a polypeptide of the invention, a nucleic acid fragment of the invention, a vector of the invention, a transformed cell of the invention, or a pharmaceutical composition of the fifth aspect of the invention so as to induce adaptive immunity against K. pneumoniae in the animal.
  • the invention relatas to 1) a polyclonal antibody in which the antibodies specifically bind to at least one polypeptide of the invention, and which is essentially free from antibodies binding specifically to other K. pneumoniae polypeptides, and to 2) an isolated monoclonal antibody or antibody analogue which binds specifically to a polypeptide of the invention.
  • the invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising such a polyclonal or monoclonal antibody and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, vehicle or diluent.
  • the invention in a 10 th aspect, relates to a method for prophylaxis, treatment or amelioration of infection with K. pneumoniae, comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of an antibody of the 7 th or 8 th aspect of the invention or a pharmaceutical composition of the eighth aspect to an individual in need thereof.
  • the invention relates to a method for determining, quantitatively or qualitatively, the presence of K. pneumoniae, in particular the presence of K. pneumoniae, in a sample, the method comprising contacting the sample with an antibody of aspects 8 or 9 of the invention and detecting the presence of antibody bound to material in the sample.
  • an 12 th aspect of the invention a method for determining, quantitatively or qualitatively, the presence of antibodies specific for K. pneumoniae, in particular the presence of antibodies specific for K. pneumoniae, in a sample, the method comprising contacting the sample with a polypeptide of the invention and detecting the presence of antibody that specifically bind said polypeptide.
  • the invention relates to a method for determining, quantitatively or qualitatively, the presence of a nucleic acid characteristic of K. pneumoniae, in particular the presence of a nucleic acid characteristic of K. pneumoniae, in a sample, the method comprising contacting the sample with a nucleic acid fragment of the invention and detecting the presence of nucleic acid in the sample that hybridizes to said nucleic acid fragment.
  • the invention relates to a method for the preparation of the polypeptide of the invention, comprising
  • the invention relates to a method for determining whether a substance, such as an antibody, is potentially useful for treating infection with K. pneumoniae, the method comprising contacting the polypeptide of the invention with the substance and subsequently establishing whether the substance has at least one of the following characteristics:
  • the invention relates to a method for determining whether a substance, such as a nucleic acid, is potentially useful for treating infection with K . pneumoniae, the method comprising contacting the substance with the nucleic acid fragment of claim of the invention and subsequently establishing whether the substance has either the ability to
  • polypeptide is in the present context intended to mean both short peptides of from 2 to 10 amino acid residues, oligopeptides of from 11 to 100 amino acid residues, and polypeptides of more than 100 amino acid residues. Furthermore, the term is also intended to include proteins, i.e. functional biomolecules comprising at least one polypeptide; when comprising at least two polypeptides, these may form complexes, be covalently linked, or may be non-covalently linked.
  • the polypeptide (s) in a protein can be glycosylated and/or lipidated and/or comprise prosthetic groups.
  • sequence means any consecutive stretch of at least 3 amino acids or, when relevant, of at least 3 nucleotides, derived directly from a naturally occurring amino acid sequence or nucleic acid sequence, respectively
  • amino acid sequence s the order in which amino acid residues, connected by peptide bonds, lie in the chain in peptides and proteins.
  • adjuvant has its usual meaning in the art of vaccine technology, i.e. a substance or a composition of matter which is 1) not in itself capable of mounting a specific immune response against the immunogen of the vaccine, but which is 2) nevertheless capable of enhancing the immune response against the immunogen.
  • vaccination with the adjuvant alone does not provide an immune response against the immunogen
  • vaccination with the immunogen may or may not give rise to an immune response against the immunogen, but the combined vaccination with immunogen and adjuvant induces an immune response against the immunogen which is stronger than that induced by the immunogen alone.
  • An “assembly of amino acids” means two or more amino acids bound together by physical or chemical means.
  • the "3D conformation” is the 3 dimensional structure of a biomolecule such as a protein.
  • the 3D conformation is also termed “the tertiary structure” and denotes the relative locations in 3 dimensional space of the amino acid residues forming the polypeptide.
  • An immunogenic carrier is a molecule or moiety to which an immunogen or a hapten can be coupled in order to enhance or enable the elicitation of an immune response against the immunogen/hapten.
  • Immunogenic carriers are in classical cases relatively large molecules (such as tetanus toxoid, KLH, diphtheria toxoid etc.) which can be fused or conjugated to an immunogen/hapten, which is not sufficiently immunogenic in its own right - typically, the immunogenic carrier is capable of eliciting a strong T-helper lymphocyte response against the combined substance constituted by the immunogen and the immunogenic carrier, and this in turn provides for improved responses against the immungon by B-lymphocytes and cytotoxic lymphocytes.
  • the large carrier molecules have to a certain extent been substituted by so-called promiscuous T-helper epitopes, i.e . shorter peptides that are recognized by a large fraction of HLA haplotypes in a population, and which elicit T-helper lymphocyte responses.
  • T-helper lymphocyte response is an immune response elicited on the basis of a peptide, which is able to bind to an MHC class II molecule (e.g. an HLA class II molecule) in an antigen-presenting cell and which stimulates T-helper lymphocytes in an animal species as a consequence of T-cell receptor recognition of the complex between the peptide and the MHC Class II molecule prese
  • MHC class II molecule e.g. an HLA class II molecule
  • immunogen is a substance of matter which is capable of inducing an adaptive immune response in a host, whose immune system is confronted with the immunogen.
  • immunogens are a subset of the larger genus "antigens", which are substances that can be recognized specifically by the immune system (e.g. when bound by antibodies or, alternatively, when fragments of the are antigens bound to MHC molecules are being recognized by T-cell receptors) but which are not necessarily capaple of inducing immunity - an antigen is, however, always capable of eliciting immunity, meaning that a host that has an established memory immunity against the antigen will mount a specific immune response against the antigen.
  • a "hapten” is a small molecule, which can neither induce or elicit an immune response, but if conjugated to an immunogenic carrier, antibodies or TCRs that recognize the hapten can be induced upon confrontation of the immune system with the hapten carrier conjugate.
  • An “adaptive immune response” is an immune response in response to confrontation with an antigen or immunogen, where the immune response is specific for antigenc determinants of the antigen/immunogen - examples of adaptive immune responses are induction of antigen specific antibody production or antigen specific induction/activation of T helper lymphocytes or cytotoxic lymphocytes.
  • a "protective, adaptive immune response” is an antigen-specific immune response induced in a subject as a reaction to immunization (artificial or natural) with an antigen, where the immune response is capable of protecting the subject against subsequent challenges with the antigen or a pathology-related agent that includes the antigen.
  • prophylactic vaccination aims at establishing a protective adaptive immune response against one or several pathogens.
  • Stimulation of the immune system means that a substance or composition of matter exhibits a general, non-specific immunostimulatory effect.
  • a number of adjuvants and putative adjuvants (such as certain cytokines) share the ability to stimulate the immune system.
  • the result of using an immunostimulating agent is an increased "alertness" of the immune system meaning that simultaneous or subsequent immunization with an immunogen induces a significantly more effective immune response compared to isolated use of the immunogen.
  • Hybridization under “stringent conditions” is herein defined as hybridization performed under conditions by which a probe will hybridize to its target sequence, to a detectably greater degree than to other sequences.
  • Stringent conditions are target-sequence-dependent and will differ depending on the structure of the polynucleotide.
  • target sequences can be identified which are 100% complementary to a probe (homologous probing).
  • stringency conditions can be adjusted to allow some mismatching in sequences so that lower degrees of similarity are detected (heterologous probing).
  • Specificity is typically the function of post-hybridization washes, the critical factors being the ionic strength and temperature of the final wash solution.
  • stringent wash temperature conditions are selected to be about 5°C to about 2°C lower than the melting point (Tm) for the specific sequence at a defined ionic strength and pH.
  • Tm melting point
  • the melting point, or denaturation, of DNA occurs over a narrow temperature range and represents the disruption of the double helix into its complementary single strands. The process is described by the temperature of the midpoint of transition, Tm, which is also called the melting temperature. Formulas are available in the art for the determination of melting temperatures.
  • animal is in the present context in general intended to denote an animal species (preferably mammalian), such as Homo sapiens, Canis domesticus, etc. and not just one single animal. However, the term also denotes a population of such an animal species, since it is important that the individuals immunized according to the method of the invention substantially all will mount an immune response against the immunogen of the present invention.
  • antibody refers to a polypeptide or group of polypeptides composed of at least one antibody combining site.
  • An “antibody combining site” is the three-dimensional binding space with an internal surface shape and charge distribution complementary to the features of an epitope of an antigen, which allows a binding of the antibody with the antigen.
  • Antibody includes, for example, vertebrate antibodies, hybrid antibodies, chimeric antibodies, humanised antibodies, altered antibodies, univalent antibodies, Fab proteins, and single domain antibodies.
  • Specific binding denotes binding between two substances which goes beyond binding of either substance to randomly chosen substances and also goes beyond simple association between substances that tend to aggregate because they share the same overall hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity. As such, specific binding usually involves a combination of electrostatic and other interactions between two conformationally complementary areas on the two substances, meaning that the substances can "recognize” each other in a complex mixture.
  • vector is used to refer to a carrier nucleic acid molecule into which a heterologous nucleic acid sequence can be inserted for introduction into a cell where it can be replicated and expressed.
  • the term further denotes certain biological vehicles useful for the same purpose, e.g. viral vectors and phage - both these infectious agents are capable of introducing a heterelogous nucleic acid sequence
  • expression vector refers to a vector containing a nucleic acid sequence coding for at least part of a gene product capable of being transcribed. In some cases, when the transcription product is an mRNA molecule, this is in trun translated into a protein, polypeptide, or peptide.
  • the at least or exactly 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention constitute at least or exactly 5, at least or exactly or at most 6, at least or exactly or at most 7, at least or exactly or at most 8, at least or exactly or at most 9, at least or exactly or at most 10, at least or exactly or at most 11, at least or exactly or at most 12, at least or exactly or at most 13, at least or exactly or at most 14, at least or exactly or at most 15, at least or exactly or at most 16, at least or exactly or at most 17, at least or exactly or at most 18, at least or exactly or at most 19, at least or exactly or at most 20, at least or exactly or at most 21, at least or exactly or at most 22, at least or exactly or at most 23, at least or exactly or at most 24, at least or exactly or at most 25, at least or exactly or at most 26, at least or exactly or at most 27 at least or exactly or at most 28, at least or exactly or at most 29, at least or exactly or at most 30, at least or exactly or at most 31, at least or exactly or at most 32
  • the number of contiguous amino acids can be higher, for all of SEQ ID NOs: 2-30. Another way to phrase this is that for each of SEQ ID NOs: 1-30, 93, and 94, the number of the contiguous amino acid residues is at least or exactly or at most N-n, where N is the length of the sequence ID in question and n is any integer between N-5 and 0; that is, the at least 5 contiguous amino acids can be at least any number between 5 and the length of the reference sequence minus one, in increments of one.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 94, at least or exactly or at most 95, at least or exactly or at most 96, at least or exactly or at most 97, at least or exactly or at most 98, at least or exactly or at most 99, at least or exactly or at most 100, at least or exactly or at most 101, at least or exactly or at most 102, at least or exactly or at most 103, at least or exactly or at most 104, at least or exactly or at most 105, at least or exactly or at most 106, at least or exactly or at most 107, at least or exactly or at most 108, at least or exactly or at most 109, at least or exactly or at most 110, at least or exactly or at most 111, at least or exactly or at most 112, at least or exactly or at most 113, at least
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 117, or at least or exactly or at most 118 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 119 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 120 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 121 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 122, at least or exactly or at most 123, at least or exactly or at most 124, at least or exactly or at most 125, at least or exactly or at most 126, at least or exactly or at most 127, at least or exactly or at most 128, at least or exactly or at most 129, at least or exactly or at most 130, at least or exactly or at most 131, at least or exactly or at most 132, at least or exactly or at most 133, at least or exactly or at most 134, at least or exactly or at most 135, at least or exactly or at most 136, at least or exactly or at most 137, at least or exactly or at most 138, at least or exactly or at most 139, or at least or exactly or at most 140 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 141, at least or exactly or at most 142, at least or exactly or at most 143, at least or exactly or at most 144, at least or exactly or at most 145, at least or exactly or at most 146, at least or exactly or at most 147, at least or exactly or at most 148, at least or exactly or at most 149, or at least or exactly or at most 150 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 151, at least or exactly or at most 152, at least or exactly or at most 153, at least or exactly or at most 154, at least or exactly or at most 155, at least or exactly or at most 156, at least or exactly or at most 157, at least or exactly or at most 158, at least or exactly or at most 159, at least or exactly or at most 160, at least or exactly or at most 161, at least or exactly or at most 162, at least or exactly or at most 163, at least or exactly or at most 164, at least or exactly or at most 165, at least or exactly or at most 166, or at least or exactly or at most 167 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 168, at least or exactly or at most 169, at least or exactly or at most 170, at least or exactly or at most 171, at least or exactly or at most 172, at least or exactly or at most 173, at least or exactly or at most 174, at least or exactly or at most 175, at least or exactly or at most 176, at least or exactly or at most 177, at least or exactly or at most 178, at least or exactly or at most 179, at least or exactly or at most 180, at least or exactly or at most 181, at least or exactly or at most 182, at least or exactly or at most 183, at least or exactly or at most 184, at least or exactly or at most 185, at least or exactly or at most 186, at least or exactly or at most 187, at least or exactly or exactly or
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 229, at least or exactly or at most 230, at least or exactly or at most 231, at least or exactly or at most 232, at least or exactly or at most 233, at least or exactly or at most 234, at least or exactly or at most 235, at least or exactly or at most 236, at least or exactly or at most 237, at least or exactly or at most 238, at least or exactly or at most 239, at least or exactly or at most 240, or at least or exactly or at most 241, at least or exactly or at most 242, at least or exactly or at most 243, at least or exactly or at most 244, or at least or exactly or at most 245 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 246, at least or exactly or at most 247, at least or exactly or at most 248, at least or exactly or at most 249, at least or exactly or at most 250, at least or exactly or at most 251, at least or exactly or at most 252, at least or exactly or at most 253, at least or exactly or at most 254, at least or exactly or at most 255, at least or exactly or at most 256, at least or exactly or at most 257, at least or exactly or at most 258, at least or exactly or at most 259, at least or exactly or at most 260, at least or exactly or at most 261, at least or exactly or at most 262, at least or exactly or at most 263, at least or exactly or at most 264, at least or exactly or at most 265, at least or exactly or at most 266, at least or exactly or at
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 322, at least or exactly or at most 323, at least or exactly or at most 324, at least or exactly or at most 325, or at least or exactly or at most 326, at least or exactly or at most 327, at least or exactly or at most 328, at least or exactly or at most 329, at least or exactly or at most 330, at least or exactly or at most 331, at least or exactly or at most 332, at least or exactly or at most 333, at least or exactly or at most 334, at least or exactly or at most 335, at least or exactly or at most 336, at least or exactly or at most 337, at least or exactly or at most 338, at least or exactly or at most 339, at least or exactly or at most 340, at least or exactly or at most 341, at least or exactly or at most
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 376, at least or exactly or at most 377, at least or exactly or at most 378, at least or exactly or at most 379, at least or exactly or at most 380, or at least or exactly or at most 381 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 382, at least or exactly or at most 383, at least or exactly or at most 384, at least or exactly or at most 385, at least or exactly or at most 386, at least or exactly or at most 387, at least or exactly or at most 388, at least or exactly or at most 389, at least or exactly or at most 390, at least or exactly or at most 391, at least or exactly or at most 392, at least or exactly or at most 393, at least or exactly or at most 394, at least or exactly or at most 395, at least or exactly or at most 396, at least or exactly or at most 397, at least or exactly or at most 398, at least or exactly or at most 399, at least or exactly or at most 400, at least or exactly or at most 401, at least or exactly or at most 402,
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 428, at least or exactly or at most 429, at least or exactly or at most 430, at least or exactly or at most 431, at least or exactly or at most 432, at least or exactly or at most 433, at least or exactly or at most 434, at least or exactly or at most 435, at least or exactly or at most 436, at least or exactly or at most 437, at least or exactly or at most 438, at least or exactly or at most 439, or at least or exactly or at most 440 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 441, at least or exactly or at most 442, at least or exactly or at most 443, at least or exactly or at most 444, at least or exactly or at most 445, at least or exactly or at most 446, at least or exactly or at most 447, at least or exactly or at most 448, at least or exactly or at most 449, at least or exactly or at most 450, at least or exactly or at most 451, at least or exactly or at most 452, at least or exactly or at most 453, at least or exactly or at most 454, at least or exactly or at most 455, at least or exactly or at most 456, at least or exactly or at most 457, at least or exactly or at most 458, at least or exactly or at most 459, at least or exactly or at most 460, at least or exactly or at most 461, at least or exactly or exactly
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 484, at least or exactly or at most 485, at least or exactly or at most 486, at least or exactly or at most 487, at least or exactly or at most 488, at least or exactly or at most 489, at least or exactly or at most 490, at least or exactly or at most 491, at least or exactly or at most 492, at least or exactly or at most 493, or at least or exactly or at most 494 at least or exactly or at most 495, at least or exactly or at most 496, at least or exactly or at most 497, at least or exactly or at most 498, at least or exactly or at most 499, at least or exactly or at most 500, at least or exactly or at most 501, at least or exactly or at most 502, at least or exactly or at most 503, at least or exactly or at most 504, at least
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 535, at least or exactly or at most 536, at least or exactly or at most 537, at least or exactly or at most 538, at least or exactly or at most 539, at least or exactly or at most 540, at least or exactly or at most 541, at least or exactly or at most 542, at least or exactly or at most 543, at least or exactly or at most 544, at least or exactly or at most 545, at least or exactly or at most 546, at least or exactly or at most 547, at least or exactly or at most 548, at least or exactly or at most 549, at least or exactly or at most 550, at least or exactly or at most 551, at least or exactly or at most 552, at least or exactly or at most 553, at least or exactly or at most 554, at least or exactly or at most 555
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 597, at least or exactly or at most 598, at least or exactly or at most 599, at least or exactly or at most 600, at least or exactly or at most 601, at least or exactly or at most 602, at least or exactly or at most 603, at least or exactly or at most 604, at least or exactly or at most 605, at least or exactly or at most 606, at least or exactly or at most 607, at least or exactly or at most 608, at least or exactly or at most 609, at least or exactly or at most 610, at least or exactly or at most 611, at least or exactly or at most 612, at least or exactly or at most 613, at least or exactly or at most 614, at least or exactly or at most 615, at least or exactly or at most 616, at least or exactly or at most 617, at
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 624, at least or exactly or at most 625, at least or exactly or at most 626, at least or exactly or at most 627, at least or exactly or at most 628, at least or exactly or at most 629, at least or exactly or at most 630, at least or exactly or at most 631, at least or exactly or at most 632, at least or exactly or at most 633, at least or exactly or at most 634, at least or exactly or at most 635, at least or exactly or at most 636, at least or exactly or at most 637, at least or exactly or at most 638, at least or exactly or at most 639, at least or exactly or at most 640, at least or exactly or at most 641, at least or exactly or at most 642, at least or exactly or at most 643, at least or exactly or at most
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 657, at least or exactly or at most 658, at least or exactly or at most 659, at least or exactly or at most 660, at least or exactly or at most 661, at least or exactly or at most 662, at least or exactly or at most 663, at least or exactly or at most 664, at least or exactly or at most 665, at least or exactly or at most 666, at least or exactly or at most 667, at least or exactly or at most 668, at least or exactly or at most 669, at least or exactly or at most 670, at least or exactly or at most 671, at least or exactly or at most 672, at least or exactly or at most 673, or at least or exactly or at most 674 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 675, at least or exactly or at most 676, at least or exactly or at most 677, at least or exactly or at most 678, at least or exactly or at most 679, at least or exactly or at most 680, at least or exactly or at most 681, at least or exactly or at most 682, at least or exactly or at most 683, at least or exactly or at most 684, at least or exactly or at most 685, at least or exactly or at most 686, at least or exactly or at most 687, at least or exactly or at most 688, at least or exactly or at most 689, at least or exactly or at most 690, at least or exactly or at most 691, at least or exactly or at most 692, at least or exactly or at most 693, at least or exactly or at most 694, at least or
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 701, at least or exactly or at most 702, at least or exactly or at most 703, at least or exactly or at most 704, at least or exactly or at most 705, at least or exactly or at most 706, at least or exactly or at most 707, at least or exactly or at most 708, at least or exactly or at most 709, at least or exactly or at most 710, at least or exactly or at most 711, at least or exactly or at most 712, at least or exactly or at most 713, at least or exactly or at most 714, at least or exactly or at most 715, at least or exactly or at most 716, at least or exactly or at most 717, at least or exactly or at most 718, at least or exactly or at most 719, at least or exactly or at most 720, at least or exactly or at most 721, at
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 752, at least or exactly or at most 753, at least or exactly or at most 754, at least or exactly or at most 755, at least or exactly or at most 756, at least or exactly or at most 757, at least or exactly or at most 758, at least or exactly or at most 759, or at least or exactly or at most 760 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 761, at least or exactly or at most 762, at least or exactly or at most 763, at least or exactly or at most 764, at least or exactly or at most 765, at least or exactly or at most 766, at least or exactly or at most 767, at least or exactly or at most 768, at least or exactly or at most 769, at least or exactly or at most 770, at least or exactly or at most 771, at least or exactly or at most 772, at least or exactly or at most 773, at least or exactly or at most 774, at least or exactly or at most 775, at least or exactly or at most 776, at least or exactly or at most 777, at least or exactly or at most 778, at least or exactly or at most 779, at least or exactly or at most 780, at least or
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 790, at least or exactly or at most 791, at least or exactly or at most 792, at least or exactly or at most 793, at least or exactly or at most 794, at least or exactly or at most 795, at least or exactly or at most 796, at least or exactly or at most 797, at least or exactly or at most 798, at least or exactly or at most 799, at least or exactly or at most 800, at least or exactly or at most 801, at least or exactly or at most 802, at least or exactly or at most 803, at least or exactly or at most 804, at least or exactly or at most 805, at least or exactly or at most 806, at least or exactly or at most 807, or at least or exactly or at most 808 contiguous amino acid residues.
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 809, at least or exactly or at most 810, at least or exactly or at most 811, at least or exactly or at most 812, at least or exactly or at most 813, at least or exactly or at most 815, at least or exactly or at most 816, at least or exactly or at most 817, at least or exactly or at most 818, at least or exactly or at most 819, at least or exactly or at most 820, at least or exactly or at most 821, at least or exactly or at most 811, at least or exactly or at most 823, at least or exactly or at most 824, at least or exactly or at most 825, at least or exactly or at most 826, at least or exactly or at most 827, at least or exactly or at most 828, at least or exactly or at most 829, at least or
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 896, at least or exactly or at most 897, at least or exactly or at most 898, at least or exactly or at most 899, at least or exactly or at most 900, at least or exactly or at most 901, at least or exactly or at most 902, at least or exactly or at most 903, at least or exactly or at most 904, at least or exactly or at most 905, at least or exactly or at most 906, at least or exactly or at most 907, at least or exactly or at most 908, at least or exactly or at most 909, at least or exactly or at most 910, at least or exactly or at most 911, at least or exactly or at most 912, at least or exactly or at most 913, at least or exactly or at most 914, at least or exactly or at most 915, at least or exactly or at most 916, at
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 1077, at least or exactly or at most 1078, at least or exactly or at most 1079, at least or exactly or at most 1080, at least or exactly or at most 1081, at least or exactly or at most 1082, at least or exactly or at most 1083, at least or exactly or at most 1084, at least or exactly or at most 1085, at least or exactly or at most 1086, at least or exactly or at most 1087, at least or exactly or at most 1088, at least or exactly or at most 1089, at least or exactly or at most 1090, at least or exactly or at most 1091, at least or exactly or at most 1092, at least or exactly or at most 1093, at least or exactly or at most 1094, at least or exactly or at most 1095, at least or exactly or at most 1096, at least or
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 1159, at least or exactly or at most 1160, at least or exactly or at most 1161, at least or exactly or at most 1162, at least or exactly or at most 1163, at least or exactly or at most 1164, at least or exactly or at most 1165, at least or exactly or at most 1166, at least or exactly or at most 1167, at least or exactly or at most 1168, at least or exactly or at most 1169, at least or exactly or at most 1170, at least or exactly or at most 1171, at least or exactly or at most 1172, at least or exactly or at most 1173, at least or exactly or at most 1174, at least or exactly or at most 1175, at least or exactly or at most 1176, at least or exactly or at most 1177, at least or exactly or at most 1178, at least or exactly
  • the at least 5 contiguous amino acids referred to in option b) in the definition of the first aspect of the invention may also constitute at least or exactly or at most 1412, at least or exactly or at most 1413, at least or exactly or at most 1414, at least or exactly or at most 1415, at least or exactly or at most 1416, at least or exactly or at most 1417, at least or exactly or at most 1418, at least or exactly or at most 1419, at least or exactly or at most 1420, at least or exactly or at most 1421, at least or exactly or at most 1422, at least or exactly or at most 1423, at least or exactly or at most 1424, at least or exactly or at most 1425, at least or exactly or at most 1426, at least or exactly or at most 1427, at least or exactly or at most 1428, at least or exactly or at most 1429, at least or exactly or at most 1430, at least or exactly or at most 1431, at least or exactly or at most 1431, at least or exactly or at most 1431, at least or exactly
  • the invention relates to a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence consisting of at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues from any one of SEQ ID NOs 1-30.
  • the at most 5 contiguous amino acids can, for example, constitute 2, 3, 4 contiguous amino acid residues; preferably 4 contiguous amino acids.
  • the polypeptide of the invention also has a sequence identity with the amino acid sequence of a) defined above of at least 65%, such as at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, and at least 99%.
  • polypeptide of the invention in some embodiments also has a sequence identity with the amino acid sequence of b) defined above of at least 60%, such as at least 65%, at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, and at least 99%.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40,42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, and 90 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-30, 93, and 94
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, and 113 in any on of SEQ ID NOs: 2-30, 93, and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 114 and 115 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 3-30, 93, and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits -the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to amino acid residue 116 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 4-30, 93, and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits -the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any amino acid residue 117 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 5-30, 93, and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to amino acid residue 118 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 6-30, 93, and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, and 137 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 7-30, 93, and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, and 147 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 8-30, 93, and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, and 164 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 9-30, 93, and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, or 192 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, or 208 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, and 225 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 10-30, 93, and 94,
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, and 241 and 318 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 11-30, 93 and 94 if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, and 318 in
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329,330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, or 356 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, and 372 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 12-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, and 378 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 13-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, and 424 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 14-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues so permits - the N-termin
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, and 437 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 15-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 438, 439, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, and 480 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 16-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529, 530, and 531 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 17-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 541, 542, 543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 560, 561, 562, or 563, 427564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578, 579, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, 589, 590, 591, 592, and 593 in any one of SEQ ID NO
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 594, 595, 596, 597, 598, 599, 600, 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607, 608, 609, 610, 611, 612, 613, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618, 619, and 620 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 19-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 626, 627, 628, 629, 630, 631, 632, 633, 634, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639, 640, 641, 642, 643, 644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649, 650, 651, 652, and 653 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 20-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 654, 655, 656, 657, 658, 659, 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 666, 667, 668, 669, 670, and 671 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 21-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 672, 673, 674, 675, 676, 677, 678, 679, 680, 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686, 687, 688, 689, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, 695, 696, and 697 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 22-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 698, 699, 700, 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710, 711, 712, 713, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718, 719, 720, 721, 722, 723, 724, 725, 726, 727, 728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740, 741, 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747, and 748 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 23-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 749, 750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, 756 and 757 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 24-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 758, 759, 760, 761, 762, 763, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768, 769, 770, 771, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776, 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, 782, 783, 784, 785 and 786 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 25-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 787, 788, 789, 790, 791, 792, 793, 794, 795, 796, 797, 798, 799, 800, 801, 802, 803, 804 and 805 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 26-30 and 94, if the length of the at least or exactly or at most 5 amino acid residues so permits - the N-terminal first residue will not be higher numbered than N-L+1, where N is the number of amino acid residues of the reference sequence and L is the number of amino acids defined for option b.
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 806, 807, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812, 813, 815, 816, 817, 818, 819, 820, 821, 811, 823, 824, 825, 826, 827, 828, 829, 830, 831, 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 837, 838, 839, 840, 841, 842, 843, 844, 845, 846, 847, 848, 849, 850, 851, 852, 853, 854, 855, 856, 857, 858, 859, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865, 866, 867, 868, 869, 870, 871
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 893, 894, 895, 896, 897, 898, 899, 900, 901, 902, 903, 904, 905, 906, 907, 908, 909, 910, 911, 912, 913, 914, 915, 916, 917, 918, 919, 920, 921, 922, 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 928, 929, 930, 931, 932, 933, 934, 935, 936, 937, 938, 939, 940, 941, 942, 943, 944, 945, 946, 947, 948, 949, 950, 951, 952, 953, 954, 955, 956, 957, 958, 959,
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 1074, 1075, 1076, 1077, 1078, 1079, 1080, 1081, 1082, 1083, 1084, 1085, 1086, 1087, 1088, 1089, 1090, 1091, 1092, 1093, 1094, 1095, 1096, 1097, 1098, 1099, 1100, 1101, 1102, 1103, 1104, 1105, 1106, 1107, 1108, 1109, 1110, 1111, 1112, 1113, 1114, 1115, 1116, 1117, 1118, 1119, 1120, 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124, 1125, 1126, 1127, 1128, 1129, 1130, 1131, 1132, 1133, 1134, 1135, 1136, 1137, 1138
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 1156, 1157, 1158, 1159, 1160, 1161, 1162, 1163, 1164, 1165, 1166, 1167, 1168, 1169, 1170, 1171, 1172, 1173, 1174, 1175, 1176, 1177, 1178, 1179, 1180, 1181, 1182, 1183, 1184, 1185, 1186, 1187, 1188, 1189, 1190, 1191, 1192, 1193, 1194, 1195, 1196, 1197, 1198, 1199, 1200, 1201, 1202, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1206, 1207, 1208, 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212, 1213, 1214, 1215, 1216, 1217, 1218, 1219, 1220,
  • the polypeptide of the invention is also one that has at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues defined for option b) above and also has its N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 1408, 1409, 1410, 1411, 1412, 1413, 1414, 1415, 1416, 1417, 1418, 1419, 1420, 1421, 1422, 1423, 1424, 1425, 1426, 1427, 1428, 1429, 1430, 1431, 1432, 1433, 1434, 1435, 1436, 1437, 1438, 1439, 1440, 1441, 1442, 1443, 1444, 1445, 1446, 1447, 1448, 1449, 1450, 1451, 1452, 1453, 1454, 1455, 1456, 1457, 1458, 1459, 1460, 1461, 1462, 1463, 1464, 1465, 1466, 1467, 1468, 1469, 1470,
  • the polypeptide of the invention is in certain embodiments also fused or conjugated to an immunogenic carrier molecule; or, phrased otherwise, the polypeptide of the invention also includes such an immunogenic carrier molecule in addition to the material derived from SEQ ID NOs: 1-30.
  • the immunogenic carrier molecule is a typically polypeptide that induces T-helper lymphocyte responses in a majority of humans, such as immunogenic carrier proteins selected from the group consisting of keyhole limpet hemocyanino or a fragment thereof, tetanus toxoid or a fragment thereof, dipththeria toxoid or a fragment thereof. Other suitable carrier molecules are discussed infra.
  • One further fusion partner which is preferably incorporated is a "His tag", i.e. a stretch of amino acids, which is rich in or only consists of histidinyl residues so as to facilitate protein purification.
  • the polypeptide of the invention detailed above is capable of inducing an adaptive immune response against the polypeptide in a mammal, in particular in a human being.
  • the adaptive immune response is a protective adaptive immune response against infection with K. pneumoniae.
  • the polypeptide may in these cases induce a humeral and/or a cellular immune response.
  • a particularly preferred polypeptide of the invention is derived from SEQ ID NO: 6 and is otherwise as defined above.
  • SEQ ID NOs: 1-30 include antigenic determinants (epitopes) that are as such recognized by antibodies and/or when bound to MHC molecules by T-cell receptors.
  • B-cell epitopes i.e. antibody binding epitopes
  • mutated versions of the polypeptides of the invention e.g. version where each single non-alanine residue in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-30 are point mutated to alanine - this method also assists in identifying complex assembled B-cell epitopes; this is the case when binding of the same antibody is modified by exchanging amino acids in different areas of the full-length polypeptide.
  • the nucleic acid fragment of the invention referred to above is preferably is a DNA fragment (of a sequence such as SEQ ID NOs: 31-60 and 95-98) or an RNA fragment (of a sequence such as SEQ ID NOs 61-90 and 99-102).
  • the at least or exactly 10 consecutive nucleotides referred to in option iii) in the definition of the second aspect consists of at least or exactly 10, such as at least or exactly or at most 11, such as at least or exactly or at most 12, at least or exactly or at most 13, at least or exactly or at most 14, at least or exactly or at most 15, at least or exactly or at most 16, at least or exactly or at most 17 at least or exactly or at most 18, at least or exactly or at most 19, at least or exactly or at most 20, at least or exactly or at most 21, at least or exactly or at most 22, at least or exactly or at most 23, at least or exactly or at most 24, at least or exactly or at most 25, at least or exactly or at most 26, at least or exactly or at most 27, at least or exactly or at most 28, at least or exactly or at most 29, at least or exactly or at most 30, at least or exactly or at most 31, at least or exactly or at most 32, at least or exactly or at most 33, at least or exactly or at most 34, at least or exactly or at most 35, at least or exactly or at most 32,
  • fragments having at least 200, at least 300 at least 400, at least 500, at least 600, at least 700, at least 800, at least 900, at least 1000, at least 1500, at least 2000, at least 2500, at least 3000, at least 3500, and at least 4000 consecutive nucleotides from those of SEQ ID NOs: 31-90 and 95-102 that encompass fragments of such lengths.
  • the at most 10 consecutive nucleotides referred to in option iii) in the definition of the second aspect of the invention constitute 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 nucleotides.
  • the nucleic acid fragment of the invention discussed above typically has a sequence identity with the nucleotide sequence defined for i) or ii) above, which is at least 65%, such as at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, and at least 99%.
  • nucleic acid fragment of the invention discussed above may also have a sequence identity with the nucleotide sequence defined for iii) above, which is at least 65%, such as at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, and at least 99%.
  • the nucleic acid fragment of the invention described above comprises in certain embodiments at least or exactly or at most X distinct nucleic acid sequences each encoding a polypeptide of the invention, where each of said X distinct nucleic acid sequences encodes at least or exactly or at most one immunogenic amino acid sequence present in or derived from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-30 and wherein said X distinct nucleic acid sequences together encode immunogenic amino acid sequences present in or derived from at least or exactly or at most X of SEQ ID NOs: 1-30, 93 or 94, wherein X is an integer selected from 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32.
  • nucleic acid fragment encodes several polypeptides of the invention.
  • the X nucleic acid sequences are expressed as separate encoded proteins and in other embodiments as "pearls on a string", i.e. fused proteins.
  • immunogenic amino acid sequences from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-30, 93 and 94 are only present in one of said X nucleic acid sequences.
  • nucleic acid fragments of the invention may be used for both production, carrier and vaccine purposes - the latter will require that the sequences are included in expression vectors that may lead to production of immunogenic proteins in the host animal receiving the vector.
  • Vectors of the invention fall into several categories discussed infra.
  • One preferred vector of the invention comprises in operable linkage and in the 5'-3' direction, an expression control region comprising an enhancer/promoter for driving expression of the nucleic acid fragment defined for option i) above, optionally a signal peptide coding sequence, a nucleotide sequence defined for option i), and optionally a terminator.
  • an expression control region comprising an enhancer/promoter for driving expression of the nucleic acid fragment defined for option i) above, optionally a signal peptide coding sequence, a nucleotide sequence defined for option i), and optionally a terminator.
  • the expression control region drives expression in prokaryotic cell such as a bacterium, e.g. in E coli.
  • prokaryotic cell such as a bacterium
  • the expression control region should be adapted to this particular use.
  • certain vectors of the invention are capable of autonomous replication.
  • the vector of the invention may be one that is capable of being integrated into the genome of a host cell - this is particularly useful if the vector is use in the production of stably transformed cells, where the progeny will also include the genetic information introduced via the vector.
  • vectors incapable of being integrated into the genome of a mammalian host cell are useful in e.g. DNA vaccination.
  • the vector of the invention is selected from the group consisting of a virus, such as a attenuated virus (which may in itself be useful as a vaccine agent), a bacteriophage, a plasmid, a minichromosome, and a cosmid.
  • a virus such as a attenuated virus (which may in itself be useful as a vaccine agent)
  • a bacteriophage such as a bacteriophage, a plasmid, a minichromosome, and a cosmid.
  • viral vectors are viral vectors (in particular those useful as vaccine agents). These may be selected from the group consisting of a retrovirus vector, such as a lentivirus vector, an adenovirus vector, an adeno-associated virus vector, and a pox virus vector. Certain pox virus vectors are preferred, in particular vaccinia virus vectors.
  • a particluarly preferred vaccinia virus vector is a modifed vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector.
  • Polypeptides of the invention may be encoded by a nucleic acid molecule comprised in a vector.
  • a nucleic acid sequence can be "heterologous,” which means that it is in a context foreign to the cell in which the vector is being introduced, which includes a sequence homologous to a sequence in the cell but in a position within the host cell where it is ordinarily not found.
  • Vectors include naked DNAs, RNAs, plasmids, cosmids, viruses (bacteriophage, animal viruses, and plant viruses), and artificial chromosomes (e.g., YACs).
  • a vector of the present invention may encode polypeptide sequences such as a tag or immunogenicity enhancing peptide (e.g. an immunogenic carrier or a fusion partner that stimulates the immune system, such as a cytokine or active fragment thereof).
  • a tag or immunogenicity enhancing peptide e.g. an immunogenic carrier or a fusion partner that stimulates the immune system, such as a cytokine or active fragment thereof.
  • Useful vectors encoding such fusion proteins include pIN vectors (Inouye et al, 1985), vectors encoding a stretch of histidines, and pGEX vectors, for use in generating glutathione S-transferase (GST) soluble fusion proteins for later purification and separation or cleavage.
  • GST glutathione S-transferase
  • Vectors of the invention may be used in a host cell to produce a polypeptide of the invention that may subsequently be purified for administration to a subject or the vector may be purified for direct administration to a subject for expression of the protein in the subject (as is the case when administering a nucleic acid vaccine).
  • Expression vectors can contain a variety of "control sequences,” which refer to nucleic acid sequences necessary for the transcription and possibly translation of an operably linked coding sequence in a particular host organism.
  • control sequences refer to nucleic acid sequences necessary for the transcription and possibly translation of an operably linked coding sequence in a particular host organism.
  • vectors and expression vectors may contain nucleic acid sequences that serve other functions as well and are described infra.
  • a “promoter” is a control sequence.
  • the promoter is typically a region of a nucleic acid sequence at which initiation and rate of transcription are controlled. It may contain genetic elements at which regulatory proteins and molecules may bind such as RNA polymerase and other transcription factors.
  • the phrases "operatively positioned,” “operatively linked,” “under control,” and “under transcriptional control” mean that a promoter is in a correct functional location and/or orientation in relation to a nucleic acid sequence to control transcriptional initiation and expression of that sequence.
  • a promoter may or may not be used in conjunction with an “enhancer,” which refers to a cis-acting regulatory sequence involved in the transcriptional activation of a nucleic acid sequence.
  • a promoter may be one naturally associated with a gene or sequence, as may be obtained by isolating the 5' non-coding sequences located upstream of the coding segment or exon. Such a promoter can be referred to as "endogenous.”
  • an enhancer may be one naturally associated with a nucleic acid sequence, located either downstream or upstream of that sequence.
  • certain advantages will be gained by positioning the coding nucleic acid segment under the control of a recombinant or heterologous promoter, which refers to a promoter that is not normally associated with a nucleic acid sequence in its natural environment.
  • a recombinant or heterologous enhancer refers also to an enhancer not normally associated with a nucleic acid sequence in its natural state.
  • promoters or enhancers may include promoters or enhancers of other genes, and promoters or enhancers isolated from any other prokaryotic, viral, or eukaryotic cell, and promoters or enhancers not "naturally occurring," i.e., containing different elements of different transcriptional regulatory regions, and/or mutations that alter expression.
  • sequences may be produced using recombinant cloning and/or nucleic acid amplification technology, including PCR TM , in connection with the compositions disclosed herein (see U.S. Patent 4,683,202 , U.S. Patent 5,928,906 , each incorporated herein by reference).
  • promoter and/or enhancer that effectively direct(s) the expression of the DNA segment in the cell type or organism chosen for expression.
  • Those of skill in the art of molecular biology generally know the use of promoters, enhancers, and cell type combinations for protein expression (see Sambrook et al, 2001, incorporated herein by reference).
  • the promoters employed may be constitutive, tissue-specific, or inducible and in certain embodiments may direct high level expression of the introduced DNA segment under specified conditions, such as large-scale production of recombinant proteins or peptides.
  • inducible elements which are regions of a nucleic acid sequence that can be activated in response to a specific stimulus
  • examples of inducible elements include but are not limited to Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain (Banerji et al, 1983; Gilles et al, 1983; Grosschedl et al, 1985; Atchinson et al, 1986, 1987; toiler et al, 1987; Weinberger et al, 1984; Kiledjian et al, 1988; Porton et al; 1990), Immunoglobulin Light Chain (Queen et al, 1983; Picard et al, 1984), T Cell Receptor (Luria et al, 1987; Winoto et al, 1989; Redondo et al; 1990), HLA DQo and/or DQ ⁇ (Sullivan et al, 1987), ⁇ -Interferon (Goodbourn et al, 1986; Fujita et al, 1987; Goodbourn et al, 1988), Inter
  • Inducible Elements include, but are not limited to MT II - Phorbol Ester (TFA)/Heavy metals (Palmiter et al, 1982; Haslinger et al, 1985; Searle et al, 1985; Stuart et al, 1985; Imagawa et al, 1987, Karin et al, 1987; Angel et al, 1987b; McNeall et al, 1989); MMTV (mouse mammary tumor virus) - Glucocorticoids (Huang et al, 1981; Lee et al, 1981; Majors et al, 1983; Chandler et al, 1983; Lee et al, 1984; Ponta et al, 1985; Sakai et al, 1988); ⁇ -Interferon - poly(rl)x/poly(rc) (Tavernier et al, 1983); Adenovirus 5 E2 - EIA (Imperiale et al, 1984); Collagenase -
  • dectin-1 and dectin-2 promoters are also contemplated as useful in the present invention. Additionally any promoter/enhancer combination (as per the Eukaryotic Promoter Data Base EPDB) could also be used to drive expression of structural genes encoding oligosaccharide processing enzymes, protein folding accessory proteins, selectable marker proteins or a heterologous protein of interest.
  • the particular promoter that is employed to control the expression of peptide or protein encoding polynucleotide of the invention is not believed to be critical, so long as it is capable of expressing the polynucleotide in a targeted cell, preferably a bacterial cell. Where a human cell is targeted, it is preferable to position the polynucleotide coding region adjacent to and under the control of a promoter that is capable of being expressed in a human cell. Generally speaking, such a promoter might include either a bacterial, human or viral promoter.
  • the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate early gene promoter, the SV40 early promoter, and the Rous sarcoma virus long terminal repeat can be used to obtain high level expression of a related polynucleotide to this invention.
  • CMV cytomegalovirus
  • the use of other viral or mammalian cellular or bacterial phage promoters, which are well known in the art, to achieve expression of polynucleotides is contemplated as well.
  • a desirable promoter for use with the vector is one that is not down-regulated by cytokines or one that is strong enough that even if down-regulated, it produces an effective amount of the protein/polypeptide of the current invention in a subject to elicit an immune response.
  • cytokines Non-limiting examples of these are CMV IE and RSV LTR.
  • a promoter that is up-regulated in the presence of cytokines is employed.
  • the MHC I promoter increases expression in the presence of IFN- ⁇ .
  • Tissue specific promoters can be used, particularly if expression is in cells in which expression of an antigen is desirable, such as dendritic cells or macrophages.
  • the mammalian MHC I and MHC II promoters are examples of such tissue-specific promoters. 2. Initiation Signals and Internal Ribosome Binding Sites (IRES)
  • a specific initiation signal also may be required for efficient translation of coding sequences. These signals include the ATG initiation codon or adjacent sequences. Exogenous translational control signals, including the ATG initiation codon, may need to be provided. One of ordinary skill in the art would readily be capable of determining this and providing the necessary signals. It is well known that the initiation codon must be "in-frame" with the reading frame of the desired coding sequence to ensure translation of the entire insert.
  • the exogenous translational control signals and initiation codons can be either natural or synthetic and may be operable in bacteria or mammalian cells. The efficiency of expression may be enhanced by the inclusion of appropriate transcription enhancer elements.
  • IRES elements are used to create multigene, or polycistronic, messages.
  • IRES elements are able to bypass the ribosome scanning model of 5' methylated Cap dependent translation and begin translation at internal sites (Pelletier and Sonenberg, 1988).
  • IRES elements from two members of the picornavirus family polio and encephalomyocarditis have been described (Pelletier and Sonenberg, 1988), as well an IRES from a mammalian message (Macejak and Sarnow, 1991).
  • IRES elements can be linked to heterologous open reading frames. Multiple open reading frames can be transcribed together, each separated by an IRES, creating polycistronic messages.
  • each open reading frame is accessible to ribosomes for efficient translation.
  • Multiple genes can be efficiently expressed using a single promoter/enhancer to transcribe a single message (see U.S. Patents 5,925,565 and 5,935,819 , herein incorporated by reference).
  • Vectors can include a multiple cloning site (MCS), which is a nucleic acid region that contains multiple restriction enzyme sites, any of which can be used in conjunction with standard recombinant technology to digest the vector.
  • MCS multiple cloning site
  • a vector is linearized or fragmented using a restriction enzyme that cuts within the MCS to enable exogenous sequences to be ligated to the vector.
  • Techniques involving restriction enzymes and ligation reactions are well known to those of skill in the art of recombinant technology.
  • vectors containing genomic eukaryotic sequences may require donor and/or acceptor splicing sites to ensure proper processing of the transcript for protein expression.
  • the vectors or constructs of the present invention will generally comprise at least one termination signal.
  • a “termination signal” or “terminator” is comprised of the DNA sequences involved in specific termination of an RNA transcript by an RNA polymerase. Thus, in certain embodiments a termination signal that ends the production of an RNA transcript is contemplated. A terminator may be necessary in vivo to achieve desirable message levels.
  • the terminator region may also comprise specific DNA sequences that permit site-specific cleavage of the new transcript so as to expose a polyadenylation site. This signals a specialized endogenous polymerase to add a stretch of about 200 A residues (poly A) to the 3' end of the transcript. RNA molecules modified with this polyA tail appear to more stable and are translated more efficiently.
  • terminator comprises a signal for the cleavage of the RNA, and it is more preferred that the terminator signal promotes polyadenylation of the message.
  • Terminators contemplated for use in the invention include any known terminator of transcription described herein or known to one of ordinary skill in the art, including but not limited to, for example, the bovine growth hormone terminator or viral termination sequences, such as the SV40 terminator.
  • the termination signal may be a lack of transcribable or translatable sequence, such as due to a sequence truncation.
  • polyadenylation signal In expression, particularly eukaryotic expression (as is relevant in nucleic acid vaccination), one will typically include a polyadenylation signal to effect proper polyadenylation of the transcript.
  • the nature of the polyadenylation signal is not believed to be crucial to the successful practice of the invention, and/or any such sequence may be employed.
  • Preferred embodiments include the SV40 polyadenylation signal and/or the bovine growth hormone polyadenylation signal, convenient and/or known to function well in various target cells. Polyadenylation may increase the stability of the transcript or may facilitate cytoplasmic transport.
  • a vector in a host cell may contain one or more origins of replication sites (often termed "on"), which is a specific nucleic acid sequence at which replication is initiated.
  • an autonomously replicating sequence can be employed if the host cell is yeast.
  • cells containing a nucleic acid construct of the present invention may be identified in vitro or in vivo by encoding a screenable or selectable marker in the expression vector.
  • a marker When transcribed and translated, a marker confers an identifiable change to the cell permitting easy identification of cells containing the expression vector.
  • a selectable marker is one that confers a property that allows for selection.
  • a positive selectable marker is one in which the presence of the marker allows for its selection, while a negative selectable marker is one in which its presence prevents its selection.
  • An example of a positive selectable marker is a drug resistance marker.
  • a drug selection marker aids in the cloning and identification of transformants
  • markers that confer resistance to neomycin, puromycin, hygromycin, DHFR, GPT, zeocin or histidinol are useful selectable markers.
  • markers conferring a phenotype that allows for the discrimination of transformants based on the implementation of conditions other types of markers including screenable markers such as GFP for colorimetric analysis.
  • screenable enzymes such as herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (tk) or chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) may be utilized.
  • Transformed cells of the invention are useful as organisms for producing the polypeptide of the invention, but also as simple "containers" of nucleic acids and vectors of the invention.
  • Certain transformed cells of the invention are capable of replicating the nucleic acid fragment defined for option i) of the second aspect of the invention.
  • Preferred transformed cells of the invention are capable of expressing the nucleic acid fragment defined for option i).
  • the transformed cell according is prokaryotic, such as a bacterium, but generally both prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells may be used.
  • Suitable prokaryotic cells are bacterial cells selected from the group consisting of Escherichia (such as E. coli ) , Bacillus (e.g. Bacillus subtilis ) , Salmonella, and Mycobacterium (preferably non-pathogenic, e.g. M. bovis BCG).
  • Escherichia such as E. coli
  • Bacillus e.g. Bacillus subtilis
  • Salmonella e.g. Bacillus subtilis
  • Mycobacterium preferably non-pathogenic, e.g. M. bovis BCG.
  • Eukaryotic cells can be in the form of yeasts (such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) and protozoans.
  • the transformed eukaryotic cells are derived from a multicellular organism such as a fungus, an insect cell, a plant cell, or a mammalian cell.
  • the transformed cell of the invention is is stably transformed by having the nucleic acid defined above for option i) stably integrated into its genome, and in certain embodiments it is also preferred that the transformed cell secretes or carries on its surface the polypeptide of the invention, since this facilitates recovery of the polypeptides produced.
  • a particular version of this embodiment is one where the transformed cell is a bacterium and secretion of the polypeptide of the invention is into the periplasmic space.
  • stably transformed cells are preferred - these i.a. allows that cell lines comprised of transformed cells as defined herein may be established - such cell lines are partilucarly preferred aspects of the invention.
  • Suitable cells for recombinant nucleic acid expression of the nucleic acid fragments of the present invention are prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
  • prokaryotic cells include E . coli; members of the Staphylococcus genus, such as S . epidermidis; members of the Lactobacillus genus, such as L. plantarum; members of the Lactococcus genus, such as L. lactis; members of the Bacillus genus, such as B. subtilis; members of the Corynebacterium genus such as C . glutamicum; and members of the Pseudomonas genus such as Ps.
  • eukaryotic cells include mammalian cells; insect cells; yeast cells such as members of the Saccharomyces genus (e.g. S . cerevisiae ) , members of the Pichia genus (e.g. P. pastoris ) , members of the Hansenula genus (e.g. H. polymorpha ) , members of the Kluyveromyces genus (e.g. K. lactis or K. fragilis ) and members of the Schizosaccharomyces genus (e.g. S . pombe ) .
  • Saccharomyces genus e.g. S . cerevisiae
  • Pichia genus e.g. P. pastoris
  • Hansenula genus e.g. H. polymorpha
  • members of the Kluyveromyces genus e.g. K. lactis or K. fragilis
  • Schizosaccharomyces genus
  • the terms "cell,” “cell line,” and “cell culture” may be used interchangeably. All of these terms also include their progeny, which is any and all subsequent generations. It is understood that all progeny may not be identical due to deliberate or inadvertent mutations.
  • "host cell” refers to a prokaryotic or eukaryotic cell, and it includes any transformable organism that is capable of replicating a vector or expressing a heterologous gene encoded by a vector.
  • a host cell can, and has been, used as a recipient for vectors or viruses.
  • a host cell may be "transfected” or “transformed,” which refers to a process by which exogenous nucleic acid, such as a recombinant protein-encoding sequence, is transferred or introduced into the host cell.
  • a transformed cell includes the primary subject cell and its progeny.
  • Host cells may be derived from prokaryotes or eukaryotes, including bacteria, yeast cells, insect cells, and mammalian cells for replication of the vector or expression of part or all of the nucleic acid sequence(s).
  • ATCC American Type Culture Collection
  • DSM Deutsche Sammlung vor Micrroorganismen und Zellkulturen
  • a plasmid or cosmid can be introduced into a prokaryote host cell for replication of many vectors or expression of encoded proteins.
  • Bacterial cells used as host cells for vector replication and/or expression include Staphylococcus strains, DH5o, JMI 09, and KC8, as well as a number of commercially available bacterial hosts such as SURE(R) Competent Cells and SOLOP ACK(TM) Gold Cells (STRATAGENE ® , La Jolla, CA).
  • bacterial cells such as E. coli LE392 could be used as host cells for phage viruses.
  • Appropriate yeast cells include Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces pombe, and Pichia pastoris.
  • eukaryotic host cells for replication and/or expression of a vector examples include HeLa, NIH3T3, Jurkat, 293, Cos, CHO, Saos, and PC12. Many host cells from various cell types and organisms are available and would be known to one of skill in the art. Similarly, a viral vector may be used in conjunction with either a eukaryotic or prokaryotic host cell, particularly one that is permissive for replication or expression of the vector.
  • Some vectors may employ control sequences that allow it to be replicated and/or expressed in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
  • control sequences that allow it to be replicated and/or expressed in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
  • One of skill in the art would further understand the conditions under which to incubate all of the above described host cells to maintain them and to permit replication of a vector. Also understood and known are techniques and conditions that would allow large-scale production of vectors, as well as production of the nucleic acids encoded by vectors and their cognate polypeptides, proteins, or peptides.
  • Prokaryote- and/or eukaryote-based systems can be employed for use with the present invention to produce nucleic acid sequences, or their cognate polypeptides, proteins and peptides. Many such systems are commercially and widely available.
  • the insect cell/baculovirus system can produce a high level of protein expression of a heterologous nucleic acid segment, such as described in U.S. Patents 5,871,986 , 4,879,236 , both herein incorporated by reference, and which can be bought, for example, under the name MAXBAC ® 2.0 from INVITROGEN ® and BACPACK TM Baculovirus expression system from CLONTECH ®
  • STRATAGENE ® 's COMPLETE CONTROL TM Inducible Mammalian Expression System, which involves a synthetic ecdysone-inducible receptor, or its pET Expression System, an E. coli expression system.
  • INVITROGEN ® which carries the T-REX TM (tetracycline-regulated expression) System, an inducible mammalian expression system that uses the full-length CMV promoter.
  • INVITROGEN ® also provides a yeast expression system called the Pichia methanolica Expression System, which is designed for high-level production of recombinant proteins in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia methanolica.
  • a vector such as an expression construct, to produce a nucleic acid sequence or its cognate polypeptide, protein, or peptide.
  • Nucleic acids used as a template for amplification may be isolated from cells, tissues or other samples according to standard methodologies (Sambrook et al, 2001). In certain embodiments, analysis is performed on whole cell or tissue homogenates or biological fluid samples without substantial purification of the template nucleic acid.
  • the nucleic acid may be genomic DNA or fractionated or whole cell RNA. Where RNA is used, it may be desired to first convert the RNA to a complementary DNA.
  • primer is meant to encompass any nucleic acid that is capable of priming the synthesis of a nascent nucleic acid in a template-dependent process.
  • primers are oligonucleotides from ten to twenty and/or thirty base pairs in length, but longer sequences can be employed.
  • Primers may be provided in double-stranded and/or single-stranded form, although the single-stranded form is preferred.
  • Pairs of primers designed to selectively hybridize to nucleic acids corresponding to sequences of genes identified herein are contacted with the template nucleic acid under conditions that permit selective hybridization.
  • high stringency hybridization conditions may be selected that will only allow hybridization to sequences that are completely complementary to the primers.
  • hybridization may occur under reduced stringency to allow for amplification of nucleic acids containing one or more mismatches with the primer sequences.
  • the template-primer complex is contacted with one or more enzymes that facilitate template-dependent nucleic acid synthesis. Multiple rounds of amplification, also referred to as "cycles," are conducted until a sufficient amount of amplification product is produced.
  • the amplification product may be detected or quantified.
  • the detection may be performed by visual means.
  • the detection may involve indirect identification of the product via chemiluminescence, radioactive scintigraphy of incorporated radiolabel or fluorescent label or even via a system using electrical and/or thermal impulse signals (Bellus, 1994).
  • PCR(TM) polymerase chain reaction
  • a nucleic acid e.g., DNA, including viral and nonviral vectors
  • Such methods include, but are not limited to, direct delivery of DNA such as by injection ( U.S.
  • Patents 4,684,611 and 4,952,500 each incorporated herein by reference); by desiccation/inhibition mediated DNA uptake (Potrykus et al, 1985).
  • organelle(s), cell(s), tissue(s) or organism(s) may be stably or transiently transformed.
  • Antibodies directed against the proteins of the invention are useful for affinity chromatography, immunoassays, and for distinguishing/identifying Klebsiella proteins as well as for passive immunisation and therapy.
  • Antibodies to the proteins of the invention may be prepared by conventional methods.
  • the protein is first used to immunize a suitable animal, preferably a mouse, rat, rabbit or goat. Rabbits and goats are preferred for the preparation of polyclonal sera due to the volume of serum obtainable, and the availability of labeled anti-rabbit and anti-goat antibodies.
  • Immunization is generally performed by mixing or emulsifying the protein in saline, preferably in an adjuvant such as Freund's complete adjuvant, and injecting the mixture or emulsion parenterally (generally subcutaneously or intramuscularly). A dose of 50-200 ⁇ g/injection is typically sufficient.
  • Immunization is generally boosted 2-6 weeks later with one or more injections of the protein in saline, preferably using Freund's incomplete adjuvant.
  • Polyclonal antiserum is obtained by bleeding the immunized animal into a glass or plastic container, incubating the blood at 25 C for one hour, followed by incubating at 4 C for 2-18 hours. The serum is recovered by centrifugation (eg. 1,000 g for 10 minutes). About 20-50 ml per bleed may be obtained from rabbits.
  • Monoclonal antibodies are prepared using the standard method of Kohler & Milstein [Nature (1975) 256 : 495-96 ], or a modification thereof.
  • a mouse or rat is immunized as described above.
  • the spleen (and optionally several large lymph nodes) is removed and dissociated into single cells.
  • the spleen cells may be screened (after removal of nonspecifically adherent cells) by applying a cell suspension to a plate or well coated with the protein antigen.
  • B-cells expressing membrane-bound immunoglobulin specific for the antigen bind to the plate, and are not rinsed away with the rest of the suspension.
  • Resulting B-cells, or all dissociated spleen cells are then induced to fuse with myeloma cells to form hybridomas, and are cultured in a selective I aedium (elg. hypexanthine, aminopterin, thymidine medium,"HAT").
  • the resulting hybridomas are plated by limiting dilution, and are assayed for production of antibodies, which bind specifically to the immunizing antigen (and which do not bind to unrelated antigens).
  • the selected MAb-secreting hybridomas are then cultured either in vitro (eg. in tissue culture bottles or hollow fiber reactors), or in vivo (as ascites in mice).
  • the antibodies may be labeled using conventional techniques. Suitable labels include fluorophores, chromophores, radioactive atoms (particularly 32p and l25I), electron-dense reagents, enzymes, and ligands having specific binding partners. Enzymes are typically detected by their activity. For example, horseradish peroxidase is usually detected by its ability to convert 3,3', 5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to a blue pigment, quantifiable with a spectrophotometer.
  • TMB 3,3', 5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine
  • Specific binding partner refers to a protein capable of binding a ligand molecule with high specificity, as for example in the case of an antigen and a monoclonal antibody specific therefor.
  • Other specific binding partners include biotin and avidin or streptavidin, IgG and protein A, and the numerous receptor-ligand couples known in the art. It should be understood that the above description is not meant to categorize the various labels into distinct classes, as the same label may serve in several different modes. For example, 1151 may serve as a radioactive label or as an electron-dense reagent. HRP may serve as enzyme or as antigen for a MAb. Further, one may combine various labels for desired effect.
  • MAbs and avidin also require labels in the practice of this invention: thus, one might label a MAb with biotin, and detect its presence with avidin labeled with, 125I, or with an anti-biotin MAb labeled with HRP.
  • a MAb with biotin and detect its presence with avidin labeled with, 125I, or with an anti-biotin MAb labeled with HRP.
  • the isolated monoclonal antibody or antibody analogue is preferably a monoclonal antibody selected from a multi-domain antibody such as a murine antibody, a chimeric antibody such as a humanized antibody, a fully human antibody, and single-domain antibody of a llama or a camel, or which is an antibody analogue selected from a fragment of an antibody such as an Fab or an F(ab') 2 , an scFV; cf. also the definition of the term "antibody” presented above.
  • a monoclonal antibody selected from a multi-domain antibody such as a murine antibody, a chimeric antibody such as a humanized antibody, a fully human antibody, and single-domain antibody of a llama or a camel, or which is an antibody analogue selected from a fragment of an antibody such as an Fab or an F(ab') 2 , an scFV; cf. also the definition of the term "antibody” presented above.
  • compositions of the invention comprising
  • compositions, in particular vaccines, according to the invention may either be prophylactic (ie. to prevent infection) or therapeutic (ie, to treat disease after infection).
  • Such vaccines comprise immunising antigen(s), immunogen(s), polypeptide(s), protein(s) or nucleic acid(s), usually in combination with "pharmaceutically acceptable carriers", which include any carrier that does not itself induce the production of antibodies harmful to the individual receiving the composition.
  • the pharmaceutical compositions such as vaccines include merely one single antigen, immunogen, polypeptide, protein, nucleic acid or vector of the invention, but in other embodiments, the pharmaceutical compositions comprise "cocktails" of the antigens or of the immunogens or of the polypeptides or of the protein or of the nucleic acids or of the vectors of the invention.
  • the pharmaceutical composition is an MVA vector mentioned herein, which encodes and can effect expression of at least 2 nucleic acid fragments of the invention.
  • RNA as the active principle, i.e. at least one mRNA encoding a polypeptide of the invention.
  • An embodiment of a pharmaceutical composition of the invention comprises Y or at least Y or at most Y distinct polypeptides of the invention described above, where each of said Y or at least Y or at most Y distinct polypeptides comprises an immunogenic amino acid sequence present in or derived from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-30 and wherein said Y or at least Y or at most Y distinct polypeptides together comprise immunogenic amino acid sequences present in or derived from Y or at least Y or at most Y of SEQ ID NOs: 1-30, 93 or 94, wherein Y is an integer selected from 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32.
  • composition of the invention comprises Z or at least Z or at most Z distinct nucleic acid molecules (such as DNA and RNA) each encoding a polypeptide of the invention, where each of said Z or at least Z or at most Z distinct nucleic acid molecules encodes an immunogenic amino acid sequence present in or derived from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-30, 93, or 94 and wherein said at Z or least Z distinct nucleic acid molecules together encode immunogenic amino acid sequences present in or derived from Z or at least Z or at most Z of SEQ ID NOs: 1-30, 93, or 94, wherein Z is an integer selected from 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32.
  • Suitable carriers are typically large, slowly metabolized macromolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, polylactic acids, polyglycolic acids, polymeric amino acids, amino acid copolymers, lipid aggregates (such as oil droplets or liposomes), and inactive virus particles.
  • Such carriers are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Additionally, these carriers may function as immunostimulating agents ("adjuvants"). Furthermore, the antigen or immunogen may be conjugated to a bacterial toxoid, such as a toxoid from diphtheria, tetanus, cholera, H. pylori, etc. pathogen, cf. the description of immunogenic carriers supra.
  • compositions of the invention thus typically contain an immunological adjuvant, which is commonly an aluminium based adjuvant or one of the other adjuvants described in the following:
  • Preferred adjuvants to enhance effectiveness of the composition include, but are not limited to: (1) aluminum salts (alum), such as aluminum hydroxide, aluminum phosphate, aluminum sulfate, etc; (2) oil-in-water emulsion formulations (with or without other specific immunostimulating agents such as muramyl peptides (see below) or bacterial cell wall components), such as for example (a) MF59 ( WO 90/14837 ; Chapter 10 in Vaccine design: the subunit and adjuvant approach, eds.
  • aluminum salts alum
  • oil-in-water emulsion formulations with or without other specific immunostimulating agents such as muramyl peptides (see below) or bacterial cell wall components
  • MF59 WO 90/14837
  • MDP (see below) either microfluidized into a submicron emulsion or vortexed to generate a larger particle size emulsion, and (c) Ribi adjuvant system (RAS), (Ribi Immunochem, Hamilton, MT) containing 2% Squalene, 0.2% Tween 80, and one or more bacterial cell wall components from the group consisting of monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), trehalose dimycolate (TDM), and cell wall skeleton (CWS), preferably MPL + CWS (DetoxTM) ; (3) saponin adjuvants such as Stimulon TM (Cambridge Bioscience, Worcester, MA) may be used or particles generated therefrom such as ISCOMs (immunostimulating complexes); (4) Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) and Incomplete Freund's Adjuvant (IFA); (5) cytokines, such as interleukins (eg.
  • Ribi adjuvant system Ribi Immunochem, Hamilton,
  • interferons eg. gamma interferon
  • M-CSF macrophage colony stimulating factor
  • TNF tumor necrosis factor
  • other substances that act as immunostimulating agents to enhance the effectiveness of the composition.
  • Alum and MF59 TM adjuvants are preferred.
  • muramyl peptides include, but are not limited to, N-acetyl-muramyl-L-threonyl-D-isoglutamine (thr-MDP), N-acetyl-normuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine (nor-MDP), N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutaminyl- L-alanine-2"-2'-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-hydroxyphosphoryloxy)-ethylamine (MTP-PE), etc.
  • the immunogenic compositions typically will contain diluents, such as water, saline, glycerol, ethanol, etc. Additionally, auxiliary substances, such as wetting or emulsifying agents, pH buffering substances, and the like, may be present in such vehicles.
  • the immunogenic compositions are prepared as injectables, either as liquid solutions or suspensions; solid forms suitable for solution in, or suspension in, liquid vehicles prior to injection may also be prepared.
  • the preparation also may be emulsified or encapsulated in liposomes for enhanced adjuvant effect, as discussed above under pharmaceutically acceptable carriers.
  • Immunogenic compositions used as vaccines comprise an immunologically effective amount of the antigenic or immunogenic polypeptides, as well as any other of the above-mentioned components, as needed.
  • immunologically effective amount it is meant that the administration of that amount to an individual, either in a single dose or as part of a series, is effective for treatment or prevention. This amount varies depending upon the health and physical condition of the individual to be treated, the taxonomic group of individual to be treated (eg. nonhuma primate, primate, etc.), the capacity of the individual's immune system to synthesize antibodies or generally mount an immune response, the degree of protection desired, the formulation of the vaccine, the treating doctor's assessment of the medical situation, and other relevant factors.
  • the amount administered per immunization is typically in the range between 0.5 ⁇ g and 500 mg (however, often not higher than 5,000 ⁇ g), and very often in the range between 10 and 200 ⁇ g.
  • the immunogenic compositions are conventionally administered parenterally, eg, by injection, either subcutaneously, intramuscularly, or transdermally/transcutaneously (eg. WO98/20734 ). Additional formulations suitable for other modes of administration include oral and pulmonary formulations, suppositories, and transdermal applications. In the case of nucleic acid vaccination, also the intravenous or intraarterial routes may be applicable.
  • Dosage treatment may be a single dose schedule or a multiple dose schedule.
  • the vaccine may be administered in conjunction with other immunoregulatory agents.
  • DNA vaccination also termed nucleic acid vaccination or gene vaccination
  • DNA vaccination may be used [eg. Robinson & Torres (1997) Seminars in Immunol 9: 271-283 ; Donnelly et al. (1997) Avnu Rev Innnunol 15 : 617-648 ; later herein].
  • a further aspect of the invention is as mentioned above the recognition that combination vaccines can be provided, wherein 2 or more antigens disclosed herein are combined to enhance the immune response by the vaccinated animal, including to optimize initial immune response and duration of immunity.
  • multiple antigenic fragments derived from the same, longer protein can also be used, such as the use of a combination of different lengths of polypeptide sequence fragments from one protein.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 1 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 2 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 3 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 4 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 5 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 6 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 7 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 8 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 9 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 10 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • compositions or the use as a vaccine thereof
  • a composition comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 11 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 12 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 13 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 14 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 15 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 16 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 17 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 18 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 19 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 20 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 21 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 22 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 23 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 24 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 25 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 26 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 27 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 28 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 29 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 30 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 93 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • embodiments of the invention relate to a composition (or the use as a vaccine thereof) comprising 2 distinct (i.e. non-identical) proteinaceaous immunogens disclosed herein wherein the first of said immunogens is SEQ ID NO: 94 or a variant or fragment thereof disclosed herein in combination with a proteinaceous immunogen selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94 or in combination with a variant or fragment disclosed herein of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 93, and 94.
  • the method of the sixth aspect of the invention generally relates to induction of immunity and as such also entails method that relate to treatment, prophylaxis and amelioration of disease.
  • immunization methods entail that a polypeptide of the invention or a composition comprising such a polypeptide is administered the animal (e.g. the human) typically receives between 0.5 and 5,000 ⁇ g of the polypeptide of the invention per administration.
  • the immuniation scheme includes that the animal (e.g. the human) receives a priming administration and one or more booster administrations.
  • Preferred embodimentms of the 6 th aspect of the invention comprise that the administration is for the purpose of inducing protective immunity against K. pneumoniae.
  • the protective immunity is effective in reducing the risk of attracting infection with K. pneumoniae or is effective in treating or ameliorating infection with K. pneumoniae.
  • the preferred vaccines of the invention induce humoral immunity, so it is preferred that the administration is for the purpose of inducing antibodies specific for K . pneumoniae and wherein said antibodies or B-lymphocytes producing said antibodies are subsequently recovered from the animal.
  • the method of the 6 th aspect may also be useful in antibody production, so in other embodiments the administration is for the purpose of inducing antibodies specific for K. pneumoniae and wherrein B-lymphocytes producing said antibodies are subsequently recovered from the animal and used for preparation of monoclonal antibodies.
  • compositions can as mentioned above comprise polypeptides, antibodies, or nucleic acids of the invention.
  • the pharmaceutical compositions will comprise a therapeutically effective amount thereof.
  • therapeutically effective amount refers to an amount of a therapeutic agent to treat, ameliorate, or prevent a desired disease or condition, or to exhibit a detectable therapeutic or preventative effect.
  • the effect can be detected by, for example, chemical markers or antigen levels.
  • Therapeutic effects also include reduction in physical symptoms, such as decreased body temperature.
  • the precise effective amount for a subject will depend upon the subject's size and health, the nature and extent of the condition, and the therapeutics or combination of therapeutics selected for administration. Thus, it is not useful to specify an exact effective amount in advance. Reference is however made to the ranges for dosages of immunologically effective amounts of polypeptides, cf. above.
  • the effective amount for a given situation can be determined by routine experimentation and is within the judgement of the clinician.
  • an effective dose will be from about 0.01 mg/kg to 50 mg/kg or 0.05 mg/kg to about 10 mg/kg of the DNA constructs in the individual to which it is administered.
  • a pharmaceutical composition can also contain a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
  • pharmaceutically acceptable carrier refers to a carrier for administration of a therapeutic agent, such as antibodies or a polypeptide, genes, and other therapeutic agents.
  • the term refers to any pharmaceutical carrier that does not itself induce the production of antibodies harmful to the individual receiving the composition, and which may be administered without undue toxicity.
  • Suitable carriers may be large, slowly metabolized macromolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, polylactic acids, polyglycolic acids, polymeric amino acids, amino acid copolymers, and inactive virus particles. Such carriers are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
  • Pharmaceutically acceptable salts can be used therein, for example, mineral acid salts such as hydrochlorides, hydrobromides, phosphates, sulfates, and the like; and the salts of organic acids such as acetates, propionates, malonates, benzoates, and the like.
  • mineral acid salts such as hydrochlorides, hydrobromides, phosphates, sulfates, and the like
  • organic acids such as acetates, propionates, malonates, benzoates, and the like.
  • compositions may contain liquids such as water, saline, glycerol and ethanol. Additionally, auxiliary substances, such as wetting or emulsifying agents, pH buffering substances, and the like, may be present in such vehicles.
  • the therapeutic compositions are prepared as injectables, either as liquid solutions or suspensions; solid forms suitable for solution in, or suspension in, liquid vehicles prior to injection may also be prepared. Liposomes are included within the definition of a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
  • the invention also relates to related embodiments to the treatment and prophylaxis disclosed herein: the invention also includes embodiments where
  • the invention in particular relates to the following numbered embodiments: Numbered embodiment 1.
  • Numbered embodiment 2 The polypeptide according to numbered embodiment 1, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues are at least or exactly 5, at least or exactly or at most 6, such as at least or exactly or at most 7, at least or exactly or at most 8, at least or exactly or at most 9, at least or exactly or at most 10, at least or exactly or at most 11, at least or exactly or at most 12, at least or exactly or at most 13, at least or exactly or at most 14, at least or exactly or at most 15, at least or exactly or at most 16, at least or exactly or at most 17, at least or exactly or at most 18, at least or exactly or at most 19, at least or exactly or at most 20, at least or exactly or at most 21, at least or exactly or at most 22, at least or exactly or at most 23, at least or exactly or at most 24, at least or exactly or at most 25, at least or exactly or at most 26, at least or exactly or at most 27 at least or exactly or at most 28, at least or exactly or at most 29, at least or exactly or at most 30, at least or exactly or at most 31, at least or exactly or
  • Numbered embodiment 3 The polypeptide according to numbered embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the sequence identity with the amino acid sequence of a) is at least 65%, such as at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, and at least 99%.
  • Numbered embodiment 4 The polypeptide according to numbered embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the sequence identity with the amino acid sequence of b) is at least 60%, such as at least 65%, at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, and at least 99%.
  • Numbered embodiment 6 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, and 113 in any on of SEQ ID NOs: 2-30, 93, and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 7 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 114 or 115 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 3-30, 93, and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 8 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to amino acid residue 116 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 4-30, 93, and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 9 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to amino acid residue 117 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 5-30, 93, and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 10 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to amino acid residue 118 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 6-30, 93, and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 11 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, and 137 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 7-30, 93, and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 12 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, and 147 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 8-30, 93, and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 13 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, and 164 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 9-30, 93, and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 14 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, or 192 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, or 208 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, and 225 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 10-30, 93, and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 15 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, and 241 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 11-30, 93, and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 16 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, and 318 in any one of SEQ ID NOs
  • Numbered embodiment 17 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329,330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, or 356 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, and 372 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 12-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 18 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, and 378 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 13-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 19 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, and 424 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 14-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 20 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, and 437 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 15-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 21 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 438, 439, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, and 480 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 16-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 22 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529, 530, and 531 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 17-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 23 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 541, 542, 543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 560, 561, 562, or 563, 427564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578, 579, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 587, 588, 589, 590, 591, 592, and 593 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 18-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 24 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 594, 595, 596, 597, 598, 599, 600, 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607, 608, 609, 610, 611, 612, 613, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618, 619, and 620 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 19-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 25 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 626, 627, 628, 629, 630, 631, 632, 633, 634, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639, 640, 641, 642, 643, 644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649, 650, 651, 652, and 653 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 20-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 26 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 654, 655, 656, 657, 658, 659, 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 666, 667, 668, 669, 670, and 671 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 21-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 27 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 672, 673, 674, 675, 676, 677, 678, 679, 680, 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686, 687, 688, 689, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, 695, 696, and 697 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 22-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 28 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 698, 699, 700, 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710, 711, 712, 713, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718, 719, 720, 721, 722, 723, 724, 725, 726, 727, 728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740, 741, 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747, and 748 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 23-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 29 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 749, 750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, 756 and 757 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 24-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 30 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 758, 759, 760, 761, 762, 763, 764, 765, 766, 767, 768, 769, 770, 771, 772, 773, 774, 775, 776, 777, 778, 779, 780, 781, 782, 783, 784, 785, and 786 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 25-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 31 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 787, 788, 789, 790, 791, 792, 793, 794, 795, 796, 797, 798, 799, 800, 801, 802, 803, 804, and 805 in any one of SEQ ID NOs: 26-30 and 94.
  • Numbered embodiment 32 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 806, 807, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812, 813, 815, 816, 817, 818, 819, 820, 821, 811, 823, 824, 825, 826, 827, 828, 829, 830, 831, 832, 833, 834, 835, 836, 837, 838, 839, 840, 841, 842, 843, 844, 845, 846, 847, 848, 849, 850, 851, 852, 853, 854, 855, 856, 857, 858, 859, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865, 866, 867, 868, 869, 870, 871, 872, 873, 8
  • Numbered embodiment 33 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 893, 894, 895, 896, 897, 898, 899, 900, 901, 902, 903, 904, 905, 906, 907, 908, 909, 910, 911, 912, 913, 914, 915, 916, 917, 918, 919, 920, 921, 922, 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 928, 929, 930, 931, 932, 933, 934, 935, 936, 937, 938, 939, 940, 941, 942, 943, 944, 945, 946, 947, 948, 949, 950, 951, 952, 953, 954, 955, 956, 957, 958, 959, 960, 961, 962
  • Numbered embodiment 34 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 1074, 1075, 1076, 1077, 1078, 1079, 1080, 1081, 1082, 1083, 1084, 1085, 1086, 1087, 1088, 1089, 1090, 1091, 1092, 1093, 1094, 1095, 1096, 1097, 1098, 1099, 1100, 1101, 1102, 1103, 1104, 1105, 1106, 1107, 1108, 1109, 1110, 1111, 1112, 1113, 1114, 1115, 1116, 1117, 1118, 1119, 1120, 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124, 1125, 1126, 1127, 1128, 1129, 1130, 1131, 1132, 1133, 1134, 1135, 1136, 1137, 1138, 1139, 1140, 11
  • Numbered embodiment 35 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 1156, 1157, 1158, 1159, 1160, 1161, 1162, 1163, 1164, 1165, 1166, 1167, 1168, 1169, 1170, 1171, 1172, 1173, 1174, 1175, 1176, 1177, 1178, 1179, 1180, 1181, 1182, 1183, 1184, 1185, 1186, 1187, 1188, 1189, 1190, 1191, 1192, 1193, 1194, 1195, 1196, 1197, 1198, 1199, 1200, 1201, 1202, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1206, 1207, 1208, 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212, 1213, 1214, 1215, 1216, 1217, 1218, 1219, 1220, 1221, 1222, 1223
  • Numbered embodiment 36 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-4, wherein the at least or exactly or at most 5 contiguous amino acid residues has an N-terminal amino acid residue corresponding to any one of amino acid residues 1408, 1409, 1410, 1411, 1412, 1413, 1414, 1415, 1416, 1417, 1418, 1419, 1420, 1421, 1422, 1423, 1424, 1425, 1426, 1427, 1428, 1429, 1430, 1431, 1432, 1433, 1434, 1435, 1436, 1437, 1438, 1439, 1440, 1441, 1442, 1443, 1444, 1445, 1446, 1447, 1448, 1449, 1450, 1451, 1452, 1453, 1454, 1455, 1456, 1457, 1458, 1459, 1460, 1461, 1462, 1463, 1464, 1465, 1466, 1467, 1468, 1469, 1470, 1471, 1472, 1473
  • Numbered embodiment 37 The polypeptide according to any one of the preceding numbered embodiments, which is fused or conjugated to an immunogenic carrier molecule.
  • the immunogenic carrier molecule is a polypeptide that induces T-helper lymphocyte responses in a majority of humans, such as immunogenic carrier proteins selected from the group consisting of keyhole limpet hemocyanin or a fragment thereof, tetanus toxoid or a fragment thereof, dipththeria toxoid or a fragment thereof.
  • Numbered embodiment 39 The polypeptide according to any one of the preceding numbered embodiments, which is capable of inducing an adaptive immune response against the polypeptide in a mammal, in particular in a human being.
  • Numbered embodiment 40 The polypeptide according to numbered embodiment 39, which is capable of inducing, in the mammal, a protective adaptive immune response against infection with K. pneumoniae.
  • Numbered embodiment 41 The polypeptide according to numbered embodiment 39 or 40, which induces a humoral and/or a cellular immune response.
  • nucleic acid fragment according to numbered embodiment 42 which is a DNA or an RNA fragment.
  • nucleic acid fragment according to numbered embodiment 42 or 43 wherein the nucleotide sequence consists of at least or exactly 10, such as at least or exactly or at most 11, such as at least or exactly or at most 12, at least or exactly or at most 13, at least or exactly or at most 14, at least or exactly or at most 15, at least or exactly or at most 16, at least or exactly or at most 17 at least or exactly or at most 18, at least or exactly or at most 19, at least or exactly or at most 20, at least or exactly or at most 21, at least or exactly or at most 22, at least or exactly or at most 23, at least or exactly or at most 24, at least or exactly or at most 25, at least or exactly or at most 26, at least or exactly or at most 27, at least or exactly or at most 28, at least or exactly or at most 29, at least or exactly or at most 30, at least or exactly or at most 31, at least or exactly or at most 32, at least or exactly or at most 33, at least or exactly or at most 34, at least or exactly or at most 35, at least or exactly or at most 36,
  • Numbered embodiment 45 The nucleic acid fragment according to any one of numbered embodiments 42-44, wherein the sequence identity with the nucleotide sequence in i) or ii) is at least 65%, such as at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, and at least 99%.
  • Numbered embodiment 46 The nucleic acid fragment according to any one of numbered embodiments 42-44, wherein the sequence identity with the nucleotide sequence in iii) is at least 65%, such as at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, and at least 99%.
  • Numbered embodiment 47 A vector comprising the nucleic acid according to any one of numbered embodiments 42-46, such as a cloning vector or an expression vector.
  • Numbered embodiment 48 The vector according to numbered embodiment 47, which comprises in operable linkage and in the 5'-3' direction, an expression control region comprising an enhancer/promoter for driving expression of the nucleic acid fragment defined in numbered embodiment 29-i), optionally a signal peptide coding sequence, a nucleotide sequence defined in numbered embodiment 29-i), and optionally a terminator.
  • an expression control region comprising an enhancer/promoter for driving expression of the nucleic acid fragment defined in numbered embodiment 29-i), optionally a signal peptide coding sequence, a nucleotide sequence defined in numbered embodiment 29-i), and optionally a terminator.
  • Numbered embodiment 49 The vector according to numbered embodiment 47 or 48, wherein the expression control region drives expression in prokaryotic cell such as a bacterium, e.g. in E. coli.
  • Numbered embodiment 50 The vector according to numbered embodiment any one of numbered embodiments 47-49, which is capable of autonomous replication.
  • Numbered embodiment 51 The vector according to any one of numbered embodiments 47-50, which is capable of being integrated into the genome of a host cell.
  • Numbered embodiment 52 The vector according to any one of numbered embodiments 47-51, which is incapable of being integrated into the genome of a mammalian host cell.
  • Numbered embodiment 53 The vector according to any one of numbered embodiments 47-52, which is selected from the group consisting of a virus, such as a attenuated virus, a bacteriophage, a plasmid, a minichromosome, and a cosmid.
  • a virus such as a attenuated virus, a bacteriophage, a plasmid, a minichromosome, and a cosmid.
  • Numbered embodiment 54 A cell which is transformed so as to carry the vector according to any one of numbered embodiments 47-53.
  • Numbered embodiment 55 The transformed cell according to numbered embodiment 54, which is capable of replicating the nucleic acid fragment defined in numbered embodiment 42-i).
  • Numbered embodiment 56 The transformed cell according to numbered embodiment 54 or 55 which is capable of expressing the nucleic acid fragment defined in numbered embodiment 42-i).
  • Numbered embodiment 57 The transformed cell according to any one of numbered embodiments 54-56, which is selected from a prokaryotic cell and a eukaryotic cell.
  • Numbered embodiment 58 The transformed cell according to any one of numbered embodiments 54-57, which is a bacterial cell selected from the group consisting of Escherichia (such as E. coli ) , Bacillus (e.g. Bacillus subtilis ) , Salmonella, and Mycobacterium, preferably non-pathogenic, e.g. M. bovis BCG.
  • Escherichia such as E. coli
  • Bacillus e.g. Bacillus subtilis
  • Salmonella e.g. Bacillus subtilis
  • Mycobacterium preferably non-pathogenic, e.g. M. bovis BCG.
  • Numbered embodiment 59 The transformed cell according to any one of numbered embodiments 54-58, which is stably transformed by having the nucleic acid defined in numbered embodiment 42-i) stably integrated into its genome.
  • Numbered embodiment 60 The transformed cell according to any one of numbered embodiments 54-59 which secretes or carries on its surface the polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-41.
  • Numbered embodiment 61 The transformed cell according to numbered embodiment 60, wherein the cell is a bacterium and secretion is into the periplasmic space.
  • Numbered embodiment 62 A cell line derived from a transformed cell according to any one of numbered embodiments 54-61.
  • a pharmaceutical composition comprising a polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-41, a nucleic acid fragment according to any one of numbered embodiments 42-46, a vector according to any one of numbered embodiments 47-53, or a cell according to any one of numbered embodiments 54-59 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, vehicle or diluent.
  • Numbered embodiment 64 The pharmaceutical composition according to numbered embodiment 63, which further comprises an immunological adjuvant.
  • Numbered embodiment 65 The pharmaceutical composition according to numbered embodiment 64, wherein the adjuvant is an aluminium based adjuvant.
  • Numbered embodiment 66 A method for inducing immunity in an animal by administering at least once an immunogenically effective amount of a polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-41, a nucleic acid fragment according to any one of numbered embodiments 42-46, a vector according to any one of numbered embodiments 47-53, a cell according to any one of numbered embodiments 54-59, or a pharmaceutical composition according to any one of numbered embodiments 63-65 so as to induce adaptive immunity against K. pneumoniae in the animal.
  • Numbered embodiment 67 The method according to numbered embodiment 6, wherein, when the polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiment 1-28 or a composition comprising said polypeptide is administered, the animal receives between 0.5 and 5,000 ⁇ g of the polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-41 per administration.
  • Numbered embodiment 68 The method according to numbered embodiment 67 or 68, wherein the animal receives a priming administration and one or more booster administrations.
  • Numbered embodiment 69 The method according to any one of numbered embodiments 67-69, wherein the animal is a human being.
  • Numbered embodiment 70 The method according to any one of numbered embodiments 67-70, wherein the administration is for the purpose of inducing protective immunity against K . pneumoniae.
  • Numbered embodiment 71 The method according to numbered embodiment 70, wherein the protective immunity is effective in reducing the risk of attracting infection with K . pneumoniae or is effective in treating or ameliorating infection with K. pneumoniae.
  • Numbered embodiment 72 The method according to any one of numbered embodiments 66-68, wherein the administration is for the purpose of inducing antibodies specific for K . pneumoniae and wherein said antibodies or B-lymphocytes producing said antibodies are subsequently recovered from the animal.
  • Numbered embodiment 73 The method according to any one of numbered embodiments 66-68, wherein the administration is for the purpose of inducing antibodies specific for K. pneumoniae and wherein B-lymphocytes producing said antibodies are subsequently recovered from the animal and used for preparation of monoclonal antibodies.
  • Numbered embodiment 74 A polyclonal antibody in which the antibodies specifically bind to at least one polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-41, and which is essentially free from antibodies binding specifically to other K. pneumoniae polypeptides.
  • Numbered embodiment 75 An isolated monoclonal antibody or antibody analogue which binds specifically to a polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-41.
  • the isolated monoclonal antibody or antibody analogue according to numbered embodiment 76 which is a monoclonal antibody selected from a multi-domain antibody such as a murine antibody, a chimeric antibody such as a humanized antibody, a fully human antibody, and single-domain antibody of a llama or a camel, or which is an antibody analogue selected from a fragment of an antibody such as an Fab or an F(ab')2, and an scFV.
  • a pharmaceutical composition comprising an antibody according to any one of numbered embodiments 74-76 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, vehicle or diluent.
  • Numbered embodiment 78 A method for prophylaxis, treatment or amelioration of infection with K. pneumoniae, in particular infection with multi-resistant K. pneumoniae, comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of an antibody according to any one of numbered embodiments 74-76 or a pharmaceutical composition according to numbered embodiment 77 to an individual in need thereof.
  • Numbered embodiment 79 A method for determining, quantitatively or qualitatively, the presence of K. pneumoniae, in particular the presence of multi-resistant K. pneumoniae, in a sample, the method comprising contacting the sample with an antibody according to any one of numbered embodiments 74-76 and detecting the presence of antibody bound to material in the sample.
  • Numbered embodiment 80 A method for determining, quantitatively or qualitatively, the presence of antibodies specific for K. pneumoniae, in particular the presence of antibodies specific for multi-resistant K. pneumoniae, in a sample, the method comprising contacting the sample with a polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-41 and detecting the presence of antibody said polypeptide.
  • Numbered embodiment 81 A method for determining, quantitatively or qualitatively, the presence of a nucleic acid characteristic of K. pneumoniae, in particular the presence of a nucleic acid characteristic of multi-resistant K. pneumoniae, in a sample, the method comprising contacting the sample with a nucleic acid fragment according to any one of numbered embodiments 42-46 and detecting the presence of nucleic acid in the sample that hybridized to said nucleic acid fragment.
  • Numbered embodiment 82 The method according to numbered embodiment 81, which includes at least one step of molecular amplification of the nucleic acid which is to be detected in the sample, for instance a step of PCR amplification.
  • Numbered embodiment 83 A method for the preparation of the polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-41, comprising
  • Numbered embodiment 84 A method for determining whether a substance, such as an antibody, is potentially useful for treating infection with K. pneumoniae, the method comprising contacting the polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-41 with the substance and subsequently establishing whether the substance has at least one of the following characteristics:
  • Numbered embodiment 85 A method for determining whether a substance, such as a nucleic acid, is potentially useful for treating infection with K. pneumoniae, the method comprising contacting the substance with the nucleic acid fragment of any one of numbered embodiments 42-46 and subsequently establishing whether the substance has either the ability to
  • Numbered embodiment 86 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-41 for use as a pharmaceutical.
  • Numbered embodiment 87 The polypeptide according to any one of numbered embodiments 1-41 for use as a pharmaceutical in the treatment, prophylaxis or amelioration of infection with K. pneumoniae.
  • Numbered embodiment 88 The nucleic acid fragment according to any one of numbered embodiments 42-46 or the vector according to any one of numbered embodiments 47-53 for use as a pharmaceutical.
  • Numbered embodiment 89 The nucleic acid fragment according to any one of numbered embodiments 42-46 or the vector according to any one of numbered embodiments 47-53 for use as a pharmaceutical in the treatment, prophylaxis or amelioration of infection with K . pneumoniae.
  • Numbered embodiment 90 The cell according to any one of numbered embodiments 54-61 for use as a pharmaceutical.
  • Numbered embodiment 91 The cell according to any one of numbered embodiments 54-61 for use as a pharmaceutical in the treatment, prophylaxis or amelioration of infection with K . pneumoniae.
  • Numbered embodiment 92 The antibody, antibody fragment or antibody analogue according to any one of numbered embodiments 74-76 for use as a pharmaceutical.
  • Numbered embodiment 93 The antibody, antibody fragment or antibody analogue according to any one of numbered embodiments 74-76 for use as a pharmaceutical in the treatment, prophylaxis or amelioration of infection with K. pneumoniae.
  • sequence listing included sets forth the sequences of polypeptides and nucleic acids of the present invention. For easy reference, the sequences are presented in the following:
  • the polypeptides of the invention have or derive from the following amino acid sequences:
  • nucleic acid fragments of the present invention have or derive from the following sequences:
  • polypeptides of the invention can also be designated as follows:
  • KP1_XXXX-A-p1-p2 When designating a fragment of one of these proteins, this is done using the nomenclature KP1_XXXX-A-p1-p2, where XXXX is any of the 4 digit numbers following "KP1" in the table above, and p1 and p2 are the start and end amino acids relative to the entire sequence of the protein.
  • KP1_1891-50-200 is the fragment of KP1_1891 that has the amino acid sequence defined by residues 50 to 200 of KP1_1891, i.e. a (poly)peptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 30, residues 50-200.
  • a number of the tested proteins proved insoluble in saline. Instead they were solubilized in 4 M urea to avoid precipitation before adding aluminum hydroxide. After adding aluminum hydroxide the urea is removed completely. The remaining proteins are solubilized in physiological saline.

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EP23180940.1A 2015-01-12 2016-01-12 Traitement et prophylaxie d'une infection k. pneumoniae Pending EP4279080A3 (fr)

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EP16700429.0A EP3244918A2 (fr) 2015-01-12 2016-01-12 Protéines et acides nucléiques utiles dans des vaccins ciblant le klebsiella pneumoniae
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EP4279080A3 (fr) 2024-02-21
US10434162B2 (en) 2019-10-08
US20200023049A1 (en) 2020-01-23
US10849968B2 (en) 2020-12-01
EP3485907B1 (fr) 2023-06-28
ES2957554T3 (es) 2024-01-22
US20210052713A1 (en) 2021-02-25
EP3244918A2 (fr) 2017-11-22
EP3485907C0 (fr) 2023-06-28
WO2016113252A3 (fr) 2016-09-09
WO2016113252A2 (fr) 2016-07-21
US20190015496A1 (en) 2019-01-17
EP3485907A1 (fr) 2019-05-22

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